Intriguing Bills OT on expiring deal dubbed a player with a 'contract worth watching'

One outlet has identified Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown as a player with a "contract [situation] worth watching" throughout the rest of the offseason.

Kyle Silagyi | Jul 1, 2024

Nov 26, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown (79) takes the field for a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

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The feasibility of sustained success in any professional sport comes down to a team’s ability to effectively draft and develop prospects and its willingness to re-sign them when their respective contracts expire. It’s a (mostly) surefire method that has demonstrably worked across several leagues; it’s a strategy that general manager Brandon Beane has employed while rebuilding the Buffalo Bills, with the bulk of the significant contributors on his now perennially competitive team being acquired through the NFL draft.

The realities of the salary cap can sometimes be restrictive, however; teams, if they’re successful in drafting and developing talent, simply cannot retain all of their players. This results in frequent difficult personnel decisions on behalf of management; Beane will soon be faced with one regarding right tackle Spencer Brown, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal fresh off his best season as a professional.

Brown’s production was generally mixed throughout his first two NFL seasons. The trait-sy third-round pick out of Northern Iowa joined the starting lineup just a few weeks into his rookie season, bringing a much-needed edge off the bench before suffering a back injury after just a handful of appearances. He didn’t necessarily flash after his return, with these struggles stretching over into his sophomore campaign; he allowed 86 total quarterback pressures over his first two seasons, per PFF, also taking 15 penalties.

This left the tackle in an interesting spot entering his third professional season—no Buffalo fan was willing to write the athletic recent day-two draft pick off entirely, but he hadn’t necessarily done enough to earn unequivocal confidence entering the 2023 season. He effectively silenced doubters, starting all 17 games for the team at right tackle and not looking out of place on a Bills offensive line that constructed its most cohesive—and generally strongest—season in recent memory.

His solid recent play leaves Beane and the rest of Buffalo’s brass with an interesting decision—do they attempt to get ahead of the proverbial curve now and extend the 26-year-old before he ascends even further, or do they take the riskier path and let him enter the 2024 campaign as a pending unrestricted free agent? The Athletic’s Tim Graham has identified this quandary as Buffalo’s most interesting contract situation, writing about it in the outlet’s recent article looking at “one player contract worth watching for every NFL team.”

Jan 21, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown (79) against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2024 AFC divisional round game at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

“One of the few question marks heading into last season was whether the 2021 third-round pick would fulfill his promise after a rocky sophomore campaign,” Graham wrote. “Brown answered with authority, playing every single one of Buffalo's 1,305 snaps. Pro Football Focus charted him for only two more pressures than Pro Bowl left tackle Dion Dawkins.

“Brown now enters the final year of his rookie contract. The Bills will have significant cap space next year after receiver Stefon Diggs’ dead money clears, but they can save a lot by extending Brown in the next few months and not letting him get close enough to free agency to get curious about testing the open market.”

As is a hallmark of any good general manager, Beane has a history of ‘getting ahead of the curve’ with contracts—he often extends players just before they take another step in their development, cashing in on favorable financial markets while simultaneously locking players up to long-term deals that quickly look like bargains. Quarterback Josh Allen and defensive tackle Ed Oliver are recent examples of this; by this logic, it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine the team extending Brown this summer.

As Graham mentions, Buffalo will soon see an increase in salary cap space thanks to the maneuvers it executed throughout the 2024 offseason; extending Brown is a financially feasible idea should the team identify him as a piece of its long-term core. It does, however, look as though the Bills may be preparing for life after Brown; the team selected athletic offensive tackles Tylan Grable and Travis Clayton in the sixth and seventh rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft, respectively, giving them developmental linemen who could develop into starters given proper time. Their presence in no way suggests an eagerness to move on from Brown, but they are intriguing insurance options.

Beane has handed out two significant extensions in each of the past two summers (Dawson Knox in September of 2022 and Oliver in June of 2023); perhaps he’ll do the same with Brown in the coming months.

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