One Surprise Cut the Buffalo Bills Could Still Make This Offseason
By Michael Luciano
The Buffalo Bills have built such a strong, suffocating defense that they carried an inconsistent quarterback in Josh Allen to the playoffs.
Unfortunately for someone like pass rusher Trent Murphy, upgrades on the defensive side of the ball could force general manager Brandon Beane to cut the former Stanford star.
Trent Murphy QB hunting. ?#NYJvsBUF | #GoBills pic.twitter.com/GlWOorDDFr
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 29, 2019
Josh Norman isn't guaranteed a starting spot either, but the specifics of Murphy's contract and the defensive end depth chart make it harder to envision a scenario where he sticks around.
Murphy started all 16 games last year, but the arrival of Mario Addison from the Carolina Panthers to play opposite Jerry Hughes would relegate him to the bench. Nabbing Iowa freak AJ Epenesa in the second round further hurts Murphy's chances of remaining on the 2020 roster, even after five sacks last year.
The Bills would save around $8 million in cap space if they cut Murphy, and would only be on the hook for around $1.7 million in dead cap. For a guy in Beane that has a good sense of when to move off of players, he has to know cutting Murphy is the most logical move from a football and financial perspective.
Trent Murphy's snaps: 56, 42, 35, 39, 33, 49, 43, 35, 53.
— Matt Parrino (@MattParrino) November 15, 2019
1 sack & 8 pressures. 104 players have more pressures than Murphy this season.
He's making $8.7 million this season & almost $9 million next year if #Bills keep him. If they move on it's only $1.75 mil dead cap hit. https://t.co/gDivL810lV
Buffalo has two starters in Addison and Hughes, and they have a high-ceiling rookie to spell either of them in Year 1 in Epenesa, all of which works against Murphy returning to Orchard Park.