The Buffalo Bills got Richie Incognito under contract on Tuesday with a brand new three-year contract worth a total of $15.75 million, with $5.45 million fully guaranteed. It carries an annual per year salary of $5.25 million, but, the normal division is deceiving compared to how much the Bills will end up owing each year to the salary cap.
According to documents obtained by 7 ABC, the deal for the Bills can be incredibly friendly to the salary cap in the first two years if the Bills choose to prorate his $3.45 million signing bonus.
Taking a look at the numbers, if the signing bonus is indeed prorated, the Bills will be on the hook for $3.25 million on the 2016 salary cap. By simply looking at that, it's far lower than the average per year salary. In 2017, Incognito would carry a $4.925 million hit on the salary cap. And then in the final year of the contract, 2018, he would be on the books for $7.575 million against the cap.
Just a little less than half of the total money Incognito will make is in the third year of the contract, where in 2018 he's scheduled to make a base salary of $6.325 million along with a $100,000 workout bonus. If the Bills were to release him ahead of that season, they would save $6.425 million of the originally scheduled $7.575 million cap hit.
Incognito will also receive a roster bonus of $500,000 next year in March. If the Bills wanted to get out from under the deal after the 2016 season, the Bills would save $2.625 million on the 2017 salary cap.
The Bills had approximately $10.7 million in cap space before the Incognito deal, and with the newest information, they're approximately $7.45 million under the cap as of the official start of the free agency period. With the three restricted free agent tenders issued to wide receiver Chris Hogan, defensive tackle Corbin Bryant, and tackle Jordan Mills now being officially recognized at the lowest level, $1.671 million each, that brings the Top 51 cap space down to approximately $4.5 million.
