Bills Can Create Significant Salary Cap Space Cutting $24 million Free-Agent Miss

It made sense, but it just hasn't worked out for some unknown reason.

Buffalo Bills' general manager Brandon Beane deserves the blame for his share of free-agent misses, but one can't fault him for trying, particularly in the case of wide receiver Curtis Samuel.

After back-to-back relatively productive seasons for the Washington Commanders, the Bills signed Samuel to a three-year contract reportedly worth $24 million in 2024. Reuniting Samuel with offensive coordinator Joe Brady seemed to be a smart move, but the production hasn't followed.

Playing 20 regular season games over two seasons, Samuel has totaled only 334 receiving yards — hardly the offensive threat he was brought in to be.

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With that said, the time is seemingly right to end the Samuel experiment, especially when taking the Bills' salary cap status into consideration.

Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady calls out during drills at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford Wednesday, July 24, 2024. | Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Significant cap savings await

Assuming the salary cap is $303.45 million in 2026, the Bills need to trim approximately $10 million off the books in order to be compliant at the start of the new league year (per Spotrac).

If Buffalo is willing to eat $3.45 million in dead money on Samuel's contract, it can find 60 percent of its needed cap space by releasing the 29-year-old wide receiver. Cutting Samuel will produce a little more than $6 million in salary cap space.

At this point, it almost seems inevitable.

Nov 9, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Curtis Samuel (1) runs during the second half against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium | Jeff Romance-Imagn Images

Samuel's surprisingly steep drop-off

Signing Samuel, a 2017 second-round draft pick, for modest money relative to the modern day WR market initially seemed like a worthwhile move.

With Brady calling plays for the Carolina Panthers in 2020, Samuel totaled 1,051 scrimmage yards in an offense quarterbacked by Teddy Bridgewater.

In 2023, Samuel produced 613 receiving yards and five total touchdowns with Sam Howell throwing the passes for Washington.

Curtis Samuel TD — Jan 26, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Curtis Samuel (1) does a toe drag tap as he catches a pass for a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during the AFC Championship Game | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Samuel accounted for 600+ receiving yards in four of five seasons prior to arriving in Buffalo. Somehow, he was unable to come close to that level of production with Josh Allen as his quarterback.