Just a day after Super Bowl LX, the Buffalo Bills announced some major contract decisions in their locker room. With Joe Brady replacing Sean McDermott as the head coach, the decision was a crucial one dealing with the 2026 cap hit.

“4 #Bills players receive contract guarantees today,” reported Spotrac on X. “WR Khalil Shakir’s $11.9M 2026 salary is guaranteed. LB Terrel Bernard’s $8.9M 2026 salary is guaranteed. CB Christian Benford’s $14.5M 2026 salary & $2.5M of 2027 salary is guaranteed. RB James Cook’s $9.4M 2026 salary is guaranteed.”

Shakir led the Bills in receiving yards (719 yards) and scored 4 touchdowns. He has been one of the best players in the Bills locker room. Giving him the guaranteed sum shows that the franchise does not want to wait when it comes to him. Moreover, he signed a four-year contract extension last year, valued at $53 million, making him one of the highest-paid players in Buffalo.

The same goes for Christian Benford and Terrel Bernard’s case as well. The CB not only has two sacks to his name but also two interceptions and a touchdown. In Benford’s case, they paid him two years of guaranteed money at once. Despite suffering some injuries, Bernard is a high-impact starter. He even led the Bills in tackles in 2023.

RB James Cook has been one of the stars of the 2025 season. His 1,621 rushing yards in 309 attempts and 12 touchdowns back the claim.

While the Bills have paid almost $36 million in guarantees, they are still over their cap limit. As per Spotrac, they are almost $10 million over their cap. Star quarterback Josh Allen has the highest guarantee of $56 million. Restructuring his contract may provide the Bills with some cushion.

In 2024, the Bills converted almost $20 million of Allen’s salary into a signing bonus, giving them relief of $16.7 million. If the same thing is done, $12 million could open up, bringing the franchise back within legal boundaries. Speaking of Allen, Super Bowl LX has made things more difficult for the quarterback.

Josh Allen watches Sam Darnold bring glory to the 2018 NFL Draft class

Josh Allen has been trying for years to win the Super Bowl. Not only has he not done that, but also failed to reach one. Since being drafted in 2018, Allen has made it to the playoffs seven times, but he has never reached the AFC Championship. The franchise lost to the Chiefs four times in the playoffs since 2020. Unfortunately, the Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback did it before the 2024 NFL MVP.

“Sam Darnold being the first in his draft class to win a #SuperBowl is quite astounding,” posted Brandon Pope TV on X.

Darnold, Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Baker Mayfield were from the 2018 NFL Draft class. For the fans, the latter three have been their first choices. But Darnold proved them wrong. For the first five seasons of his career, the Super Bowl winner had not tasted the playoffs. Then, in 2023, he reached the Super Bowl while playing for the 49ers. Surprisingly, he reached the Super Bowl twice, while the others in his class are yet to reach one.

Darnold completed almost 68% of his passes for 4,048 passing yards and scored 25 touchdowns. He also threw 14 interceptions in the regular season. While Allen‘s stats are pretty similar to Darnold’s, he has scored 14 rushing touchdowns compared to the latter being empty in that regard.

At the moment, Allen is recovering from a foot injury, while Darnold is busy partying. When the new season commences, he will hope to bring glory to the 2018 class again. But this time, through his hands.