What Taylor Rapp and Dane Jackson’s release means for Buffalo Bills’ salary cap situation after a busy day of roster moves
Brandon Beane and the Bills have been busy.
The Buffalo Bills have reportedly released safety Taylor Rapp and cornerback Dane Jackson after a flurry of releases earlier on Friday.
Rapp broke his own news, sharing on his Instagram story a message saying “Thank You Buffalo,” an indication that his time in the blue and red has come to an end. It wasn’t a surprising move, as Rapp had a down year and it was clear the team was going to move in a different direction. Veteran safety Jordan Poyer played well in the role opposite breakout stud Cole Bishop.
Rapp’s departure was inevitable. The news also comes as the team announced they would be letting go of cornerback Dane Jackson, a busy day for the Bills in terms of releases.
Buffalo Bills continue to clear up cap space ahead of free agency
With their departure, Buffalo continues to clear up some much-needed cap space. After the team signed wide receiver DJ Moore and appears to be taking on an over $20 million cap hit, it was for certain that the team would need to make some corresponding moves.
Rapp’s exit clears up around $3 million in cap space. Some restrucutres are in order to make some serious dents, but it’s a step in the right direction. Jackson’s release clears up 1.2 million.
The team released wide receiver Curtis Samuel and cornerback Taron Johnson hours before, which also helped ease the cap burden Buffalo finds itself in. Samuel cleared up $6 million and Johnson cleared up just shy of $2 million. In total, Buffalo saved around $12-$13 million toward the cap.
Over The Cap has Buffalo at the bottom of the league, before the Samuel, Johnson, Jackson, or Rapp exits take into effect. The Bills are negative $31.7 million, not exactly where you want to be this time of year. Nevertheless, they began the work on getting in the black, and did so quickly.
Friday’s wave of releases is just the beginning. WIth free agency right around the corner and Buffalo needing upgrades, general manager Brandon Beane is clearly working to create the financial flexibility neceessary to reshape the team, even if it’s with small moves.
If Buffalo wants to maximize the championship window with quarterback Josh Allen under center, there are likely more tough calls still to come.
At least for some of the decisions, they were much easier than others.
Buffalo Bills News
Grading The Trade: Brandon Beane gets desperate and puts all the chips in the middle of the table for D.J Moore
The Buffalo Bills are trading for Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore. Quarterback Josh Allen gets a No. 1 option in the receiving room, something that the Bills Mafia has been pounding the table for this offseason. With free agency just days away, general manager Brandon Beane made his move. It’s not without controversy, though, […]
