The Buffalo Bills announced a contract extension for left tackle Dion Dawkins, but the numbers were slow to come in. It felt like the big domino Buffalo needed to sign a few free agents because the move lowered Dawkins’ cap hit, so it was always important to see how it shook out.
The Dawkins deal was announced as a three-year, $60 million extension and the total value left is four years, $71 million.
Dawkins was set for $10.3 million in cash in 2024 on his old deal with a $16.61 million cap hit in 2024. Instead his cash goes up $4 million and his cap hit goes down $5 million as they continue pushing it into further years.
Dawkins gets $11 million as a signing bonus for the new contract. His 2024 salary, 2025 salary, and a 2025 $6 million option bonus are all fully guaranteed for a total of $30 million in full guarantees plus it’s a virtual lock he’ll receive his $2 million 2025 roster bonus. With only the first two years fully guaranteed, Buffalo can get out of the contract just 24 months from now if they would like.
If he is on the roster five days into the 2026 league year, $4.75 million of his salary fully guarantees and he gets a $500,000 roster bonus.
Like most of general manager Brandon Beane’s contracts, he has yearly incentives in the form of workout bonuses ($500,000 per season) and per-game roster bonuses ($20,000/game up for $340,000).
The contract has the 12th-most guaranteed money at signing of all the tackles in the NFL. The average value of the deal is fifth in the NFL among tackles. It’s the fifth-highest cap hit on the Bills in 2024.
Here are the yearly breakdowns starting with what his old contract had for 2024 and void years.
OLD 2024
Prorated signing bonus: $1.72 million
Prorated option bonus: $1.875 million
Prorated restructure: $2.71 million
Roster bonus: $500,000
Workout bonus: $250,000
Per-game active bonus: $250,000
Base salary: $9.3 million
Yearly cash: $10.3 million
Cap hit: $16.61 million
OLD 2025
Prorated restructure: $2.71 million
Accelerated prorated restructure: $2.71 million
Dead-cap charge: $5.43 million