The Buffalo Bills came within inches of making the Super Bowl yet again, so the truth is, they are going to run it back next season with mostly the same group they played with in 2024. However, there will be some roster movement this summer, which means a few veterans that Bills Mafia knows well will be gone. In that vein, the one Bills player who could be a surprise roster cut in the 2025 offseason is future Hall of Famer Von Miller.
Von Miller will be the Bills surprise roster cut in 2025 offseason
Five years after Miller’s career ends, he will not pass Go or collect $200. He will go right into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That said, the all-time great pass-rusher turns 36 at the end of March and is scheduled to make a lot of money next season.
Miller’s contract brings a cap hit of $23.8 million next season, which is second-highest on the team, only behind MVP quarterback Josh Allen.
That’s a tough number to swallow for a Bills team that is currently $11.9 million over the cap, which is the fourth-worst number in the NFL heading into the offseason, per Spotrac.
Plus, Miller has struggled to stay on the field in Buffalo after joining on a six-year, $120 million deal in 2022. Since coming to Western New York, the edge maven has played in 36 of a possible 51 regular season games. He has 14.0 sacks and 17 tackles for a loss in those contests, but none of either in five playoff games.
Paying over $20 million for a situational pass-rusher is just not something a Super Bowl contender can afford to do. Yes, the Bills need pass rush anywhere they can get it. Defensive ends Gregory Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa are solid players but not big-time sack-getters. But the disappointing truth is that Von Miller is just not a productive playmaker at this point in his career, either.
If the Bills cut Miller at the beginning onf the offseason, it will save the team $8.3 million against the salary cap, getting them more than halfway to back under the cap. If they designate Miller a post June 1 release – which would allow the team to split the dead cap money over two seasons – they will save $17.4 million.
That number gets them well under the cap, and when general manager Brandon Beane pulls the other levers he needs to pull over the summer, like giving Allen a massive contract extension, the team will be in a good spot, financially, in 2025.
So, while some fans may be surprised if the Bills jettison Miller from the roster after his incredible career, it’s something that has to be done.
Miller may not be the only surprise cut that Bills fans will hear about this offseason, though. Two other names to watch in this sense are linebacker Matt Milano, cornerback Kaiir Elam, and kicker Tyler Bass.
Milano is still a productive player, but he’s only played nine games in the last two seasons and is now on the wrong side of 30. With his injuries, younger players like Terrel Bernard have stepped up, making Milano not quite as crucial as he was two years ago.
The reason the veteran linebacker didn’t headline this piece is that cutting him before June 1 would actually cost the Bills $1.4 million as his cap hit is $15.8 million and his dead cap number is $17.2 million. However, with a post-6/1 release, Buffalo can save $9.6 million in 2025.
Elam, on the other hand, will only make $4.3 million this season, and cutting him before or after the first day of June will not save the Bills a dime. Still, the 2022 first-round pick is now officially a bust. And as he showed against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game after Christian Benford went out, he is completely unplayable against any remotely good team.
While the money is a wash, cutting Elam could be addition by subtraction for the Bills, who should be able to find a league-minimum or late-round rookie cornerback who can at least not actively hurt the team when he’s on the field.
Finally, there is Bass, who struggled at times over the last two seasons but was relatively reliable down the stretch in 2024. Still, he is slated to make $4.6 million in 202,5, and cutting him could save some money.
If Buffalo releases Bass before March 16, they’ll save $1.6 million. They then can’t cut him between then and June 1, but after June 1, they can save $3.6 million next season. That’s not a ton, but for a team that desperately needs to free up space, every little bit counts.
Plus, Beane should easily be able to find a kicker who can give them at least as much as Bass does for a fraction of the price.
