The Buffalo Bills are in the midst of major shakeup ahead of the 2024 NFL season. After abruptly cutting several key veterans to get cap-compliant, numerous starters agreed to contract restructures.
Before free agency started, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler broke the news that tight end Dawson Knox agreed to rework his contract. Knox, the Bills’ third-round pick from the 2019 NFL draft, signed a four-year, $52 million extension ahead of the 2022 season. The restructure lessoned his $14.4 million cap hit in 2024.
Knox is coming off one of the least productive seasons of his career. With tight end Dalton Kincaid breaking out as a legit pass-catching weapon for Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Knox’s restructure seemed to clear a path for the Bills to release him in 2025.
However, the opposite turned out to be true. Spotrac.com posted on Sunday, March 17, “Dawson Knox signed a 3 year, $29.5M restructured contract with the Bills that lowered his 2024 cap hit by $6.5M. Knox secures $12.5M guaranteed on the new deal, including $4.5M of his 2025 salary.” The contract details sparked a strong reaction from fans and analysts.
While Knox essentially took a pay cut, with a $14 million cap hit in 2025 and a dead cap hit of $16.97 million, the 27-year-old isn’t going anywhere next year. YardsPerPass posted, “Very interesting, makes Dawson who was a ‘good cut candidate’ in 2025 now a quite bad cut candidate.”
One fan responded, “He is so overpaid. What a terrible contract that is.” Others were happy to see Knox locked in for two more years. Another fan posted, “Took less money in 2024, but makes sure he gets another year with the Bills. Win win for Dawson Knox, and the Bills.”