Bills closing in on $9.6 million decision to part ways originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Buffalo Bills probably didn’t take long to know they made a mistake when they signed Josh Palmer.
The problem now, in a crowded WR depth chart, is figuring out what the next step is with the former Chargers wideout.
The reality is that Palmer’s contract dictates that he sticks around for the 2026 season.
But although it has two years remaining, there’s an easy way for the Bills to cut ties after this year.
The Bills built in an opt out before the 2027 season. He’s slated to have a $9.6 million cap hit for that campaign.
If Buffalo parts ways with Palmer by opting out after the 2026 season, it’ll save $4.8 million against the cap, according to Spotrac.
Buffalo’s hope when it signed Palmer last offseason was that he’d join Keon Coleman and Khalil Shakir to lead the receivers for the Bills.
Coleman had his issues, though, and Palmer simply wasn’t good enough when he was on the field. He didn’t make much of a difference.
Now, the WR depth chart is crowded.
The Bills started the overcrowding by trading for DJ Moore from the Chicago Bears.
They then drafted Skyler Bell out of UConn.
They still have Mecole Hardman and Tyrell Shavers. They brought aboard the veteran Trent Sherfield, too.
Eventually, Palmer is going to either prove himself, which would be a surprise, or he’ll play himself off the roster.
At this point, one outcome seems way more likely than the other.
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