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Bills Cuts: 3 Players Buffalo Should Release Before 2025 Season

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Bills Cuts

The Buffalo Bills once again fell short of their ultimate goal—the franchise’s first Super Bowl title—and must now find a way to infuse the roster with more talent, especially on defense, before the 2025 season. The process starts with cuts in the coming months to create extra financial flexibility.

General manager Brandon Beane has the distinct advantage of having a superstar quarterback in Josh Allen. The Bills’ championship window will be wide open as long as Allen remains in Buffalo. That doesn’t mean modest offseasons like the front office put together in 2024 should become the norm, though.

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Beane and his staff need to shoot for the stars between now and September. At least one, and possibly two, major defensive upgrades should be the target. Asking the offense to carry the entire burden every time they face the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs has proven itself a flawed strategy.

All of the salary information referenced below is courtesy of Spotrac.

Buffalo Bills 2025 Offseason Cut Candidates

1. EDGE Von Miller

Potential Savings: $8.4 million (pre-June 1) or $17.4 million (post-June 1)

Miller made it clear during his season-ending meeting with the media he’d like to return to the Bills next season.

“However long my key card works in this building, I’m gonna keep coming up in here and I’m going to keep coming in and trying to make [a Super Bowl] happen,” Miller told reporters. “I want to be here…I plan on being a Buffalo Bill for sure.”

That’s not realistic unless he takes a massive pay cut, though. The 35-year-old future Hall of Famer is scheduled to count $23.8 million against the salary cap in 2025, but his production no longer comes anywhere closer to matching that financial investment.

Miller was the NFL’s worst full-time player in 2023 following his return from a torn ACL. He recorded just three total tackles and no sacks across 12 appearances. Although he bounced back a bit with six sacks this season, his performance was still a far cry from what the Bills expected when they signed him in 2022.

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Buffalo ranked 18th with 39 sacks during the regular season. Starters Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa are reliable but not game-wreckers. The Bills desperately need an edge rusher who can generate consistent pressure and game-changing plays.

Miller no longer fits the bill, so it’s time for Buffalo to move on.

2. DT DaQuan Jones

Potential Savings: $1.8 million (pre-June 1) or $5.5 million (post-June 1)

Jones and Ed Oliver combined to form one of the league’s best defensive tackle duos when healthy over the past two seasons. That interior production was absent for most of 2024.

While the notoriously streaky Oliver still had his moments, Jones was a complete non-factor for the majority of the campaign. He finished with 23 total tackles and 2.5 sacks in 16 games. His lackluster 64.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus matches the mediocre numbers.

At 33, it’s also hard to bet on a return to form by the Penn State product next season. His best days are likely behind him, which makes it tough to commit to his $9.4 million cap hit. The Bills won’t get a ton of savings with a pre-June 1 release, but it’ll clear his future cap charges and opening up a starting role.

The best thing Buffalo can do for Oliver is invest in a big-bodied, run-stuffing tackle. That was the plan when it signed Star Lotulelei (6’2”, 315 pounds) in 2018 but, like Jones, he was nearing the end of his productive years and faded quickly.

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In turn, perhaps using the draft to find a younger, long-term option is the play. Someone like Kentucky’s Deone Walker (6’6”, 345 pounds) could be a match made in heaven.

3. TE Dawson Knox

Potential Savings: $4.6 million (post-June 1)

Knox would have to receive a post-June 1 designation if released. Before that he’d count an extra $2.8 million against the cap in 2025, bringing the total to just under $17 million. One thing’s for sure: the Bills shouldn’t pay a No. 2 tight end $14.2 million in 2025.

In the big picture, Buffalo has bungled the position over the past handful of years. It gave Knox an extension in 2022 after his breakout nine-touchdown campaign in 2021. Despite that, it still drafted Dalton Kincaid in the first round of the 2023 draft.

So, the level of tight-end investment is sky-high and it hasn’t translated to a significant impact on the offense. Kincaid played just 43.3 percent of the offensive snaps while dealing with injuries in 2024, while Knox played 56.8 percent of the snaps and made just 22 catches.

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Assuming Kincaid will be 100 percent healthy to start next season, the Bills should elevate him to the role of clear-cut No. 1 tight end. Release Knox and allow Quinton Morris, a restricted free agent this offseason, to become the No. 2 tight end. Zach Davidson can serve in the No. 3 role.

Buffalo simply has too many other needs to continue spending so much on a tight end who sees the field on around half the snaps. That doesn’t mean Knox won’t find success elsewhere—he’s a starter-level player, albeit on the lower end of that distinction—but it’s time to save money and fully unleash Kincaid in 2025.

Main Image: Gregory Fisher – USA Today Sports

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