The NFL salary cap leaves a lot of room for maneuvering.
The Buffalo Bills proved that on Wednesday. According to ESPN's Field Yates, they've rearranged the contract of offensive tackle Dion Dawkins to better fit under the cap.
Yates writes, "The Bills created just under $8M by restructuring OT Dion Dawkins’ deal."
That's not an insignificant amount of money. Yates doesn't clarify how the Bills did this. Teams often can do restructures that involve changing base salary into signing bonuses. There are also ways to move one season's salary into a different year instead.
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Dawkins is a fan favorite in Buffalo and also one of the best left tackles in football.
He is entering his ninth season with the Bills. Dawkins has made the Pro Bowl in each of the past four campaigns.
He's currently in the midst of what had been a three-year, $60.06 million contract extension that runs through 2027. He's already due to get paid some money in void years in both 2028 and 2029 after the contract itself expires, per Spotrac.
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The current arrangement listed on Spotrac actually only pays Dawkins $1.255 million in base salary this season and splits the rest of the money into a signing bonus, a restructure prorate, a roster bonus, a per game bonus, an option prorate and a workout bonus.
The Bills clearly know how to get creative with their contracts to make the money across their team line up. Dawkins will get the cash either way, so it's not a big deal.
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