On Saturday, NFL Players Associations records were updated to reflect the five-year, $60-million deal that the Buffalo Bills reached with starting left tackle Cordy Glenn last week. Those records show the year-by-year salary-cap numbers and other details for Glenn's deal.
Based on that data, OverTheCap.com's Bryce Johnston analyzed Glenn's contract and calculated its "Expected Contract Value," finding that Glenn is expected to earn $52.362 million, or 87 percent, of the deal.
According to Johnston, that makes Glenn's pact with the Bills one of the most player-friendly in the NFL, because most deals carry an "Expected Contract Value" of 65- to 70-percent.
The structure of Glenn's deal virtually ensures that he will remain with the team through at least the first two seasons of the contract, and very likely through the first three seasons of his deal. Because Glenn's entire 2017 salary is guaranteed and $8 million of his 2018 salary is guaranteed (although the conditions of that guarantee were not made clear in NFLPA records), it is unlikely the team will cut ties with Glenn before 2019.
Whereas some NFL players agree to backloaded contracts with higher base salaries later in the deal that are rarely guaranteed, Glenn's highest base salaries are in Years 2 and 3 of his deal, and his pay drops in Years 4 and 5. That is advantageous to Glenn because, as explained above, he is likely to remain with the team in Years 2 and 3 to earn the higher salaries.
Johnston also notes that the Bills now have the fifth-highest salary-cap commitments for 2017, by his metrics, and that they have the third-lowest future cap spending ability. That is not necessarily a negative for the Bills, who have their top running back LeSean McCoy, top wide receiver Sammy Watkins, top tight end Charles Clay, top pass-rusher Jerry Hughes and top interior defensive lineman Marcell Dareus under contract through at least 2018, in addition to Glenn. However, Johnston believes, "the team will have limited flexibility to add to or change the roster without moving sideways by losing talent currently on the roster."
