With the 2025 NFL season coming soon, there's almost no room for teams to make major changes. There are some exceptions, of course: the Green Bay Packers' trade for Micah Parsons is proof of that. That being said, most of the moves that teams will do at this point are just minor moves to chip away at their cap space.
Three NFL teams made such moves today. The Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, and Atlanta Falcons restructured the contracts of their players just before the start of the season. Dion Dawkins, Jaylon Johnson, and Darnell Mooney all saw their contracts get updated to help the team save some money.
“The Falcons created $6M by restructuring WR Darnell Mooney’s deal,” Field Yates reports. “The Bills created just under $8M by restructuring OT Dion Dawkins’ deal. The Bears created $8M by restructuring CB Jaylon Johnson’s deal.”
Contract restructuring is a common way for NFL teams to make sure they have enough cap space in the middle of the season. Cap space is a valuable resource in the middle of the season. It allows teams the flexibility to make moves mid-season if they need anything on the roster. With enough cap space, a team can pivot to either going all-in or finding a replacement player after an injury to keep the team competitive.
The Bills (29th), Bears (24th), and Falcons (31st) are ranked towards the bottom of the NFL in terms of cap space, with the Falcons in particular being in the negatives before the restructuring of Mooney's contract. The team with the highest available cap space this season is the Bills' division rivals New England Patriots, followed by the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions.
Expect more teams towards the bottom of the cap space rankings to make similar moves over the next few days to free up much-needed space. After all, flexibility is king in the NFL.
