Today marks one of the quieter but more impactful moments on the NFL offseason calendar - the void year deadline. It’s not flashy, but for front offices like the Buffalo Bills’, it’s a day that brings real financial consequences. Several contracts on the roster have now officially hit their void years, and that means one thing: dead money is coming due in 2026.
Let’s break it down. When a contract hits its void year and the player isn’t re-signed or extended, the remaining prorated portion of their signing bonus doesn’t just disappear - it accelerates onto the cap for that year. For Buffalo, that adds up quickly:
- Matt Milano: $11 million
- Joey Bosa: $7.2 million
- Connor McGovern: $4.8 million
- DaQuan Jones: $3.7 million
- A.J. Epenesa: $2.8 million
That’s over $29 million in dead cap space hitting the books in 2026 - and none of it tied to players currently under contract.
Let’s pause there. Dead cap is essentially money you're paying for players who aren’t on your roster anymore.
It’s the financial echo of past deals, and it can limit how aggressive a team can be in free agency or with extensions. But it’s also part of a broader strategy - and in Buffalo’s case, one that GM Brandon Beane has leaned into.
Void years are a tool. When used well, they allow teams to spread out cap hits from large signing bonuses over additional (and often fake) years on the back end of a deal.
It gives immediate flexibility - a way to build a competitive roster without blowing up the cap in the short term. But the trade-off is clear: the bill eventually comes due.
That’s what’s happening now. The Bills are seeing the delayed cost of past decisions - and the biggest number on the ledger belongs to Matt Milano, whose $11 million dead cap hit leads the pack. Milano’s been a cornerstone of this defense when healthy, so the question becomes: is there a path to bringing him back and softening that financial blow?
Then there’s Joey Bosa, whose $7.2 million hit is significant. His time in Buffalo was always expected to be short-term, but this kind of cap impact highlights the cost of going all-in on elite talent, even for a year.
Of course, none of this means the sky is falling. Beane has shown time and again that he’s comfortable playing the long game with the cap.
He’s used void years before, often pairing them with restructures or extensions to smooth out the financial impact. That could still be on the table for some of these players, depending on how negotiations shake out over the coming months.
But for the crowd that likes to say “the cap isn’t real” - well, this is the moment where the math catches up. The flexibility of void years gives you room to maneuver, but it doesn’t erase the money.
It just shifts the timing. And in 2026, the Bills are already staring down a $29 million reminder of that reality.
Now, the front office has some decisions to make. Do they try to bring back any of these players on new deals that could offset the dead money?
Or do they eat the hit and move forward with a clean slate? Either way, this is a pivotal point in Buffalo’s cap planning - and a reminder that every financial move in the NFL eventually circles back.