Buffalo Bills Restructure the Contract of Dion Dawkins

The Buffalo Bills will wrap up the preseason on Friday night against the Carolina Panthers. The game will be the only road preseason game in 2022.

On Tuesday, general manager Brandon Beane mentioned towards the end of his press conference that they would in all likelihood, restructure a contract this week to be cap compliant — this after the trade of guard Cody Ford to the Arizona Cardinals.

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On Thursday, that contract restructure finally came.

The Bills have restructured the contract of starting left tackle Dion Dawkins, according to Tom Pelissaro of The NFL Network.

Dawkins’ base salary will now be just over $1 million for 2022, after the rest was converted into a signing bonus. The move saves the Bills $5.6 million in cap space.

Dawkins or Tre’Davious White seemed like the most likely candidates for this restructure when Beane mentioned the Bills would have to do this. The restructure of Dawkins’ contract is common practice in the NFL, as a way to fit players in under the cap. The base salary counts, not the signing bonus.

According to Spotrac, the Bills have $10 million in cap space with their top 51 contracts. Things could change with roster cut downs this Tuesday.

Could the Bills go after a player in free agency during the season? That could be Odell Beckham Jr., who has been linked to Buffalo courtesy of Von Miller, could be a mid-season pickup.

NFL GM’s want space for wiggle room during the season, however, so we will see what Beane does.