Bills free agent tracker: Wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie released

The NFL’s free agency signing period continues to hum along Friday morning.

The Buffalo Bills have made a couple outside free agent signings, but the bulk of their work has been done re-signing some of their own free agents, most prominently safety Jordan Poyer.

Here’s the latest on what the Bills are doing, and you can continue to check for updates here throughout the next few days for updates.

RFA Dane Jackson back on one-year deal

The Bills made it 3-for-3 on their restricted free agents, getting all of them to return on one-year contracts. The latest was Jackson, the cornerback who saw significant playing time last season with Tre’Davious White missing the first two-thirds of the season, and the Bills trying to break in rookies Kaiir Elam and Christian Benford at the other cornerback spot.

Unlike safety Cam Lewis and linebacker Tyrel Dodson who agreed to return after the Bills did not tender them RFA contracts, the Bills gave Jackson the original round tender of $2.7 million because there was a chance another team would have signed him had he become an unrestricted free agent, and the Bills would not have received compensation.

By giving him the tender, any team that would have tried to sign Jackson would have been subject to the Bills matching the offer to retain him. If they didn’t, the Bills would have received a seventh-round pick in return.

All of that was avoided as Jackson agreed to a contract that was less than the $2.7 million tender, though details are not yet available. Brandon Beane actually said Thursday that this was going to happen.

Isaiah McKenzie becomes a cap casualty

An expected move came down Friday as the Bills announced the release of the wide receiver before a $250,000 roster bonus was set to be paid out.

The writing was on the wall for McKenzie as soon as the Bills signed receiver Deonte Harty the other day. Harty has a similar but more dynamic skill set than McKenzie, and he can work on the outside as well as the slot. McKenzie as primarily a slot receiver.

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McKenzie had been with the Bills since 2018 and at times was a useful weapon for offensive coordinators Brian Daboll and Ken Dorsey. However, when he was given more responsibility in 2022 after Cole Beasley was released, McKenzie did not take full advantage.

He was an inconsistent player who didn’t bring the type of juice the Bills were hoping for and eventually, he was sharing snaps with rookie Khalil Shakir and even Beasley who was pulled out of retirement, partly because of McKenzie’s lack of production.

The move creates about $2 million in additional salary cap space.

There will be two Allen’s in the Bills QB room

With Case Keenum off to Houston, the Bills needed a backup quarterback and reports are that Kyle Allen - who is a good friend of Josh Allen - will be that man.

Kyle Allen has been in the NFL since 2018, though unlike Josh who was a first-round draft pick that year, he went undrafted and signed with the Panthers. He spent two years in Carolina and took over as the starter in 2019, going 5-7 while completing 62% of his passes for 3,322 yards, 17 TDs and 16 interceptions.

The 27-year-old was traded to the Commanders in 2020, spent two years primarily as a backup though he did make six starts, then went to the Texans last year and started two of the three games he appeared in.

The two Allens have trained together in the offseason as both are pupils of quarterback guru Jordan Palmer. At the NFL Scouting Combine, Beane was asked how much input Josh Allen would have in some of the big decisions the team has to make.

“When we get ready to make a decision, though, I definitely clue him in on the thought process,” Beane said. “And he and I see things generally pretty similar. But he’ll shoot me straight if there’s something he thinks I miss.”

You can rest assured that Josh had a big say in signing Kyle.

Jordan Poyer will return to Buffalo on two-year deal

This is a pretty significant development for the Bills defense as Poyer will be back for a seventh season with his running mate Micah Hyde.

When Poyer hit the free agency market, all signs pointed to him not returning, driven in large part by his and his wife’s social media comments. And from the Bills’ perspective, it seemed like re-signing the soon-to-be 32-year-old Poyer at market value would not have been a prudent move for a team hard pressed against the cap.

However, Poyer clearly did not drum up the interest he thought he could because eight free agent safeties have already signed new deals, four with new teams, four with their original teams. And of those deals, seven have come in at an average of $7.5 million per season or less. The only safety who hit it big was Jesse Bates III who agreed to a four-year, $64 million deal to go from the Bengals to Falcons.

There was speculation that Poyer might get somewhere in the $11 million per season range, but that clearly didn't happen. It ended up being a two-year deal worth up to $10 million with $4.5 million guaranteed. His cap hit for 2023 is $3.6 million.

Bills adding slot WR/return man Deonte Harty

In a move that seems to indicate two things - that the Bills aren’t ready to turn over the slot receiver role to second-year man Khalil Shakir, and they may be ready to move on from Isaiah McKenzie - they are reportedly adding Harty on a two-year contract worth up to $13.5 million with $5 million guaranteed. His cap hit for 2023 would be around $3.7 million.

Harty entered the NFL in 2019 when his surname was Harris, which he changed to Harty last year to honor his stepfather. He was an undrafted player by the Saints out of tiny Assumption College, but he impressed scouts with a blazing 40-yard dash time of 4.35 seconds.

In four years in New Orleans, he did most of his best work in the return game on both punts (9.8 per return) and kickoffs (25.4). He led the NFL as a rookie in both punt returns (36) and yards (338). It will be interesting to see if Harty takes over the return duties from Nyheim Hines because if so, that might mean the Bills have bigger plans for Hines in the offense.

As a receiver, the diminutive 5-foot-6, 170-pound speedster hasn’t produced much, though he’s had limited opportunity. He was targeted only 92 times and caught 64 for 793 yards and four TDs. Last season he played only four games due to a turf toe ailment.

Stefon Diggs’ contract provides more cap relief

Like Josh Allen and Von Miller, Diggs was considered an obvious place for Beane to create space. Allen and Miller were handled Monday and they combined to open up $32 million, Tuesday night, the Bills pushed money around in Diggs’ contract which freed up another $5.4 million. Diggs’ base salary was lowered to $1.16 million and his new cap hit for 2023 is $14.8 million.

There are still restructures Beane could do, but he has pulled the lever on the four biggest with Diggs, Allen, Miller and Matt Milano. Those four moves opened up more than $43 million of operating capital, which means Beane could be in position to make a big signing in the next couple days if there's truly a player he covets.

As of Wednesday morning, before the Bills do anything else, they are believed to have about $20 million in space.

Bills will tender RFA Dane Jackson

This move came as a bit of a surprise. Jackson, Tyrel Dodson and Cam Lewis were all restricted free agents and to prevent them from becoming unrestricted free agents, the Bills had to either agree to new contracts, or give them a league-mandated original round tender worth $2.7 million for 2023.

Dodson and Lewis, who have minimal playing time outside of special teams in their first three seasons with the team, were never going to command that on the market so the Bills did not tender either. Both agreed to rejoin the team, likely for around $1 million each which would be a slight raise over what they earned in 2022.

But Jackson was a slightly different story. He was thrust into a starting role last season with Tre’Davious White missing the first two-third of the season and he wound up making 57 tackles and two interceptions while playing 829 defensive snaps. Jackson also started six games in 2021 and two in his rookie year of 2020, and the Bills believed that might give him an opportunity to sign elsewhere.

If the tender goes through, any team wishing to sign Jackson would have to send the Bills a seventh-round draft pick, the original round he was picked back in 2020.

Tyrel Dodson may have a chance to replace Tremaine Edmunds

After a quiet Tuesday morning, the Bills made their first move of the day by agreeing to bring back Dodson. He was one of the Bills’ three restricted free agents and he became the second of those to re-sign with the team before a required tender was offered (Cornerback Dane Jackson is the other). Cam Lewis came back Monday, and now Dodson will sign a one-year deal and will join the competition to become Edmunds’ replacement in the middle of the Buffalo defense.

Dodson has spent almost all of his three seasons with the Bills as a core four special teams player. He did get starts in five games, including three last season when Edmunds was out with injuries. In 2022 he played 276 special teams snaps and made four tackles.

The 6-foot, 237-pounder will battle with 2022 second-round pick Terrel Bernard, but it seems like the Bills will add to this spot either with an outside free agent or a draft pick.

Josh Allen, Von Miller provide huge cap savings

The two most obvious moves that Beane could make to free up cap space went down Monday night when Allen and Miller agreed to contract alterations that give the Bills approximately $32 million in relief.

Allen’s base salary will be converted to the league minimum and $21.1 million will be converted into a signing bonus which can then be spread evenly over the life of the contract.

In Miller’s case, he has a roster bonus that will be converted to a signing bonus, a maneuver that frees up around $10.8 million.

With that money, the Bills are now well under the cap and can not only cover the cost of the players agreed to sign or re-sign Monday, but they will be able to do further shopping on the free agent market as they tried to fill several needs.

Tremaine Edmunds moving on to the Chicago Bears

Five years of investment and development just walked out of the building at One Bills Drive as it was reported that Edmunds is signing a big-money deal with the Bears.

The figures that are out there are eye-opening, a four-year, $72 million contract with around $36.8 million in guaranteed money for the man who was Buffalo’s second first-round pick in 2018, and has been a starter ever since.

At $18 million per season, that was clearly too much for the Bills, but now they have a huge hole in the middle of their defense. Fans were often split on Edmunds, but at just 25 years of age, he still likely has a long career in front of him, and he’s coming off the best season of his time with Buffalo.

If he continues to ascend, the Bills might rue this day.

Bills signing guard Connor McGovern to replace Rodger Saffold

You can cross off one of the biggest holes the Bills needed to fill this offseason with the report that they are signing the former Cowboys left guard to a three-year contract worth up to $22.3 million with about $11 million guaranteed. His cap hit for 2023 will be $4 million.

McGovern is a former third-round pick in 2019 out of Penn State who sat out that entire season with a torn pectoral muscle, then was a part-time starter in 2020 and 2021 before he took over as the full-timer in 2022 when he started all 15 games he played in.

Of the 53 guards who played at least 700 snaps last season, the 6-foot-5, 308-pounder was graded by Pro Football Focus as the 13th-best pass blocker as he allowed just two sacks and 23 pressures on 548 pass snaps. However, he was not an efficient blocker in the run game as he ranked 52nd, just one spot below Saffold.

Case Keenum signing with the Texans

The Bills will be in the market for a backup quarterback as the 35-year-old Keenum is signing with Houston, leaving only Matt Barkley behind Josh Allen. Barkley is no longer backup worthy as he’s strictly a practice squad option.

Keenum cost the Bills $6 million last year and there are several players who could be signed as insurance policies that will cost less than Keenum. One could have been be Sam Darnold, who was picked four spots in front of Allen in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Jets. However, Darnold agreed to a one-year deal with the 49ers.

Allen’s good buddy, Kyle Allen, could be a logical alternative to Keenum. Allen has started games for the Panthers, Commanders and Texans since entering the NFL in 2018.

There won’t be a punter vacancy for the Buffalo Bills

One of Buffalo’s scheduled free agents was Sam Martin, the punter they signed at the last minute prior to the 2022 season when the team cut ties with rookie Matt Araiza. Martin, a 10-year veteran who was previously with the Lions and Broncos, proceeded to give the Bills one of their best punting seasons in recent memory.

He averaged 47.7 yards gross, the second-best figure of his career, and 42.1 yards net, his third-best mark. The Bills saw value in that and they confirmed they are re-signing him.

Reports have it as a three-year deal worth $6 million with $2.36 million guaranteed and a cap hit in 2023 of $1.66 million. That’s a nice raise from the $1.1 million he earned last year, but it also gives the Bills a reasonable escape after 2023 with a minimal dead cap hit.

Staying with special teams, the Bills confirmed they are re-signing one of the core members of those units, Tyler Matakevich. It’s a one-year deal with a void year in 2024 which creates a cap hit for 2023 of $1.83 million. I thought the Bills might decide to move on from the 30-year-old who earned $3.2 million last season. It will be interesting to see the numbers and whether he took a pay cut to stay in Buffalo.

Nyheim Hines ready to provide cap relief

Hines was one of the obvious places Beane was going to go to seek cap relief. The contract he signed with the Colts carried a cap hit in 2023 of $4.8 million which is way too much for a backup running back. Also, there was zero dead cap hit if he were to be cut, so if the Bills wanted to move on, that was an instant $4.8 million savings.

Instead, he is agreeing to convert some of his base salary into a signing bonus and according to Mike Garafolo there will be incentives included in the re-worked contract that could earn him even more money than the $4.8 million.

Hines is the primary kickoff and punt returner, and when you factor that into the signings of Martin and Matakevich, it once again highlights the importance the Bills place on special teams.

Matt Milano agrees to two-year extension

Beane started digging into the cap deficit over the weekend with a pair of contract alterations, one that provided a little space, one that created a nice chunk.

Defensive tackle Tim Settle, who has a contract that expires after 2023, but he has a void year in 2024, and he agreed to push some of his 2023 money into that void year which gave the Bills around $600,000 in relief. Hey, every dollar counts.

But the bigger move came Sunday when they extended linebacker Matt Milano’s contract - which was set to expire after 2024 - by two years which freed up $6 million.

Beane doesn’t like to do these restructured deals because at some point in the future the bill comes due. But for someone like Milano, one of the best players on the team who just turned 27 and is coming off an All-Pro season, it makes sense because unless there’s an unforeseen calamitous injury or a sharp decline in his performance, Milano will still be in his prime in 2026.

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This also locks up one of the two starting linebackers while the Bills wait to see what happens with the other, unrestricted free agent Tremaine Edmunds.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills free agency tracker: Live updates on players coming, going