Where the Bills rank among NFL teams in 2024 offseason spending

The Buffalo Bills, as general manager Brandon Beane has described it, are a team “in transition,” a franchise currently taking its proverbial financial medicine in hopes of better positioning itself for long-term success.

Buffalo is coming off five straight playoff berths and four straight AFC East titles thanks to what was largely an identical core; Although the auxiliary pieces have been swapped over time, the Bills’ core players have remained largely the same over the past half-decade. The team never managed to “get over the hump” with this group, although they came close on several occasions; With a number of solid starters aging and accounting for a significant portion of the salary cap, Buffalo was forced to part ways with several beloved players during the 2024 offseason, “resetting” its cap while promoting younger players to larger roles in hopes of laying the foundation for another period of sustained success.

The team allowed safety Micah Hyde and wide receiver Gabriel Davis to leave as free agents. They released safety Jordan Poyer, cornerback Tre’Davious White and center Mitch Morse. They even traded Stefon Diggs, the franchise’s fourth all-time player, as part of their “transition” from one core to another.

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Hundreds of departures, great pieces and memories, all deleted in a single spring.

The Bills should still remain competitive during the 2024 NFL season given the presence of several talented players, namely former All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano, strong defensive tackle Ed Oliver and supernatural quarterback Josh Allen , but this is truly a transitional year for the Bills. team, the opportunity for it to see which players integrate its new core and which gaps will have to be filled in the future. Buffalo thus made several provisional signings during the 2024 offseason, acquiring players who could take into account the team’s long-term plans, but are not tied to significant long-term commitments.

This idea is reflected in the team’s ranking in 2024 off-season spending; according to Spotrac, the team ranks 17th in the league – firmly in the middle of the pack – in spring spending, committing about $272.3 million in future spending. They sit between the Baltimore Ravens ($278.8 million) and the Seattle Seahawks ($271.3 million).

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This number takes into account free agent spending in addition to money spent on extensions and drafted and undrafted rookies. The Bills rank 19th in the NFL in free agent spending ($85.6 million) and 12th in expansion spending; The team’s most significant free agent acquisition was wide receiver Curtis Samuel (who signed a three-year, $24 million contract) while reworking and extending the contracts of several players already on the roster .

The Detroit Lions rank first in 2024 offseason spending at $626.5 million, with much of that taken up by the extensions of wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, offensive tackle Penei Sewell and from quarterback Jared Goff. The Dallas Cowboys are way down at the bottom of the list, having spent just $93.4 million in the spring.

Buffalo’s spending, while not necessarily “modest” during the 2024 offseason, could increase next year; Spotrac’s Mike Ginnitti recently said he thinks the Bills are positioned to “be one of the most active teams in 2025 in terms of free agency.”