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It’s rare for Bills to extend players with two years left on their deal

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By: Matt Warren

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Stefon Diggs is one of just a couple.

When the Buffalo Bills sign a player, they rarely extend that player’s deal before they are entering a contract year. They’ve only done it a few times under general manager Brandon Beane.

With Stefon Diggs, it’s different. They didn’t sign Diggs to his deal, they traded for it and inherited the contract from the Minnesota Vikings. It’s hard to argue Diggs wasn’t underpaid by the time 2022 rolled around, mainly because he signed a five-year (six total years) while with the Vikings. He was only scheduled to make between $12 and $13 million in 2022 and 2023 when top receivers were signing deals for twice that number. Diggs led the league in catches and receiving yards in 2020.

The other two players the Bills have extended while they had two years left on their deal; QB Josh Allen and CB Tre’Davious White.

White was entering the fourth year of his rookie deal, which for most rookies means the final year, but Buffalo had the fifth-year option picked up. He was under contract for 2020 and 2021 when he signed his deal in September 2020.

Similar to White, Allen was entering the fourth year of his rookie contract with the fifth-year option already picked up when Buffalo signed him to his massive extension in August 2021.

For both White and Allen, a big jump in salary was only a year away, so the contract extensions helped Buffalo manage the cap around them and structure the hits accordingly. For Diggs, it was a big pay increase so his deal is even more unique.

The Bills could give defensive tackle Ed Oliver a contract extension this offseason to add his name to the list, but they notably didn’t do that with linebacker Tremaine Edmunds last offseason. He is playing on the fifth-year option in 2022 and will be a free agent in 11 months.

Originally posted on Buffalo Rumblings