How Long Will the Bills be Able to Contend?

Pro Football Focus has ranked their long-term prognosis in the middle of the pack in a study of the entire NFL.

On paper, the Buffalo Bills might be looking at a window of contention that's already closing even before the monster contract extension quarterback Josh Allen signed last summer kicks in.

Just look at the NFL salary cap numbers for their top players in 2023. Allen ($39.7 million), wide receiver Stefon Diggs ($20.3 million) and defensive end Von Miller ($18.7 million) total nearly $79 million, according to Over the Cap. And their top 10 highest-paid players in 2023 will account for $162.9 million of their $236.8 million in total cap liabilities.

Considering the league's cap is projected to rise to only around $220 million next season, they're already well over that amount.

Those numbers don't even include safety Jordan Poyer, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, guard Rodger Saffold, running back Devin Singletary and tight end Dawson Knox, whose contracts expire at the end of this season.

But general manager Brandon Beane started the 2022 offseason over the cap as well and was able to clear enough space to improve the roster and still have some left over to add a veteran player later this summer if they should find themselves short at, say, cornerback or tight end.

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Pro Football Focus on Tuesday released an extensive three-year analysis for every NFL team and ranked the Bills in the middle of the pack at No. 15.

Here is what author Brad Spielberger wrote about the Bills:

Thanks to prudent cap management over the last several years, the Bills were able to extend star wide receiver Stefon Diggs despite quarterback Josh Allen signing an extension that, at the time, set the record for fully guaranteed money at signing with $100 million. Unlike the Green Bay Packers with Davante Adams and Kansas City Chiefs with Tyreek Hill, the Bills elected to roster one of the league’s highest-paid signal callers and pass-catchers simultaneously, but they earned the ability to do so with sharp roster construction.

They were also able to recruit game-wrecking edge defender Von Miller away from the Los Angeles Rams with a six-year, $120 million extension (that’s more like a three-year, $52.5 million extension in reality). Buffalo is going all-in on a Super Bowl run after suffering one of the more painful playoff defeats in recent memory at the hands of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

Nevertheless, resources are getting a bit thin, and rookie contract players need to step up to push this team to the pinnacle once and for all.

There is no question the Bills are going to have to part ways with players they'd like to keep. But for teams that have proven cap management ability, their situation is not nearly as dire as the figures would indicate.

• RELATED: Bills need their young pass rushers to come through this year

They just need Beane to keep working his contract wizardry, finding diamonds in the rough and drafting players who fit their system, and they should be fine for at least the next three seasons.

For the record, though, all three of their AFC East rivals are ranked ahead of them. The Patriots are third, the Jets sixth and the Dolphins seventh.

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Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.