The Bills have reworked another contract, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com, who writes that defensive tackle Kyle Williams is the latest Buffalo player to have adjustments made to his deal for the 2016 season.
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Per Rodak, NFLPA records show that Williams’ $6MM base salary for the 2016 season has been sliced to $4.25MM. The move has apparently created $1.75MM in cap room for the team, reducing the 32-year-old’s cap charge from $8MM to $6.25MM.
Typically, when a player takes that sort of pay cut, he gets some sort of bonus or incentive added to his contract to help make up for the lost salary, potentially giving him a chance to earn it back. However, Rodak suggests that the records don’t indicate Williams’ restructure includes anything besides the pay cut.
Williams had been owed a $500K roster bonus earlier this week, so it’s possible that the Bills agreed to pay out that bonus if the veteran defensive lineman agreed to reduce his pay. This is just my speculation, but Buffalo could have created $5MM in cap room by releasing Williams, so perhaps the team used that scenario as leverage to encourage a restructure.
Williams remains under contract with the Bills for two more years, with a cap hit of $8.3MM and a base salary of $6.3MM for 2017.
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