Bills need to look at ‘business standpoint,’ for Devin Singletary

Devin Singletary is both a mix of an “under-the-radar” and important pending free agent for the Buffalo Bills.

He led the Bills (13-3) in carries, rushing yards, and had five rushing scores. That only trailed quarterback Josh Allen’s seven.

Meanwhile, the likes of other players on expiring contracts such as safety Jordan Poyer and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds have gotten much more of the spotlight.

Sure, Singletary put the ball on the ground at times, but he played a role, and no small one.

It remains to be seen what happens with Buffalo’s top rusher from the past few years. As of now, it seems like it’s a very cloudy future for Singletary.

At his end of season press conference, general manager Brandon Beane complimented Singletary. Then he brought up the business side of things. That made it sound like the Bills might have a tough time making ends meet.

“Really improved in short-yardage. We know he can make guys miss. His hands improved,” The GM said. “We’ll have to see from a business standpoint how that will work out for us.”

According to Spotrac, the Bills are approximately $16 million over the estimated 2023 salary cap. Plenty of moves will be made by Beane to free space up, but regardless, the space will be slim.

The elephant in the room is quarterback Josh Allen’s extension. Per Spotrac, Allen’s cap hit jolts from $16.4 million to $39.8M next year. That’s going to hamper the team more and players will fall by the wayside.

Singletary is a candidate to be one of those because like most players, he will want a larger contract after his rookie deal. Not a smaller one like the Bills will be looking for.

However, the player is holding onto some slight hope.

Singletary admitted to WROC-TV he’d like to return to Buffalo. Singletary added he thought he had a “fair amount” of touches in the Bills offense.

That could be another factor playing into Singletary’s mind as well: Life without a James Cook.

Plus, Cook himself was just drafted in the third round last year. Down the stretch, Cook started to get more run with the Bills on the field. He’s clearly part of the team’s future plans.

All in all, Singletary might be halfway out the door already.