Bills brass explains how 'albatross' contract lead to decision to move on from Stefon Diggs

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The Buffalo Bills front office were faced with multiple tough decisions this offseason. Early last month, the team's key decision makers coordinated a high-profile trade which involved star wide receiver Stefon Diggs.

The four-time Pro Bowler agreed to a four-year, $96 million contract extension with the Bills in 2022. But, Bills general manager Brandon Beane suggested moving forward with Diggs' contract on the books would effectively place a financial "albatross" around the team for the next couple of years.

The team had to take on around $31 million in dead money against its salary cap for the 2024 season, but that was something Beane said the organization was willing to suffer through in the short term.

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Stefon Diggs #14 of the Buffalo Bills reacts during the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Highmark Stadium on January 21, 2024 in Orchard Park, New York.  (Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)

"I mean, listen, there's a lot of things I think you weigh," Beane said. "A player of his caliber, you weigh a lot of things. But ultimately, we just talked about the (salary) cap. ... I don't need to go through all the reasons why we decided to go ahead and do that. I would say, from a cap standpoint, we decided just to go ahead and eat it out now. We think we can compete and do what we need to do by eating it now. Because if we didn't, if we tried to come up with some way to split it up too many different ways, it's just like that albatross hanging on your neck all year. ... What's '25 look like? What's '26?"

BENGALS' JA'MARR CHASE, TEE HIGGINS REPORTEDLY ABSENT