Bills Central

Brandon Beane's poor cap management has Bills remaining in salary cap hell for 2026

The Bills have several contracts set to void at the end of the season.
Alex Brasky|
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane on the field before a game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Highmark Stadium.
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane on the field before a game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Highmark Stadium. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

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Brandon Beane has been under fire.

If the 2025 regular season proved anything, it was that the Buffalo Bills’ roster was not well-constructed. With holes at various positions, there will be plenty of questions for Buffalo’s front-office staff to answer this upcoming offseason if it hopes to maintain the team’s championship viability into the future.

However, that may be easier said than done, as the Bills are set to remain up against the salary cap, mainly due to several voided contracts that will result in dead cap for the upcoming 2026 campaign.

RELATED: Bills' RB James Cook blatantly disrespected in 2025 position rankings by NFL analyst

Matt Milano
Buffalo Bills linebacker Matt Milano (58) reacts after a sack against the New England Patriots during the second half at Gillette Stadium. | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Analyzing it all

A recent report conducted by Spotrac revealed that Buffalo will soon face $32 million in dead cap from previously paid bonuses, placing them in a precarious financial position entering the 2026 league year.

Linebacker Matt Milano’s void year will cost the team over $11 million, while edge rusher Joey Bosa’s will cost the team $7.2 million in 2026. Additionally, center Connor McGovern ($4.8M), defensive tackle DaQuan Jones ($3.7M), edge rusher A.J. Epenesa ($2.86M) and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi ($2.57M) all have a void year upcoming.

The NFL’s salary cap is expected to be a touch over $300 million in 2026, and the Bills are about $3 million over the cap, per Spotrac.

That means, due to all the dead cap, Buffalo will need to pull off some gymnastics to improve its roster or extend deserving players. And even then, the Bills shouldn’t be expected to have a whole lot of room for earth-shattering moves over the next several months.

MORE: Subpar Bills defensive unit will face Broncos without star player in Divisional Round

Win it all

Before its Divisional Round defeat at the hands of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo was on the cusp of its first Super Bowl appearance in decades, with a wide-open AFC waiting for a team to take the bull by the horns and go on a run toward Santa Clara in February. And despite their many flaws, this year may have been the Bills’ best shot at a championship under this current regime, given the playoff field and the state of the roster moving forward.

But in the end, it was not to be.

With the way things are looking in the future, it’s difficult to imagine a seismic offseason signing or big-swing trade transforming this team rapidly. To improve, the Bills will likely have to draft and develop talent around what they have in place for next season if they hope to continue the run of success their fans have come to expect over the past nine years.

Otherwise, the chickens hatched by some imprudent salary cap maneuvering may come home to roost.

Josh Allen
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) throws a long pass during the second half of the Buffalo Bills wild card game against the Denver Broncos at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Jan. 12, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Alex Brasky
ALEX BRASKY

Alex Brasky is editor of Bills Digest and host of the Buffalo Pregame podcast. He has been on the Bills beat the past six seasons and now joins Sports Illustrated hoping to expand his coverage of Buffalo’s favorite football team.

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