Bills restructure Stefon Diggs' contract; how much does he make now?

In an effort to free up some salary cap space, the Buffalo Bills have restructured wide receiver Stefon Diggs' current contract. This type of move is not surprising as teams need to free up salary cap space in order to sign their most recent draft picks.

Some teams do it before the NFL Draft, while others wait until after, so that they know exactly how much restructuring they need to do and how much money they need to get it done.

How much money will Stefon Diggs make in 2021?

Stefon Diggs' 2021 salary was supposed to be around $12,700,000. In order to free up the salary cap space the Buffalo Bills converted Stefon Diggs' salary of $11,718,333 into a signing bonus.

This means that the money will now come from a bonus and will not affect the Buffalo Bills' players' 2021 season salaries. This was the most that the Bills could have converted from Diggs' salary.

By making this move, his base salary will now be just $990,000, seeing as he received the rest of the salary as a bonus. The Buffalo Bills now have $11,804,995 in cap space to work with.

The Bills converted $11,718,333 of WR Stefon Diggs' base salary into a signing bonus, creating $7,812,222 in 2021 cap space, per source. A good chunk of cap space for Buffalo to work with as the season draws closer.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) June 1, 2021

As of June 1, NFL teams can take on less dead cap space if the Buffalo Bills had made this move before that date, but it would have gone against the salary cap space.

Stefon Diggs is currently in the midst of a five year, $72,000,000 contract extension that he signed while still with the Minnesota Vikings. Stefon Diggs was then traded to the Buffalo Bills in March 2020.

Last season with the Buffalo Bills, Stefon Diggs had 1,525 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in the regular season. He also had 311 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the postseason.

This is the reasoning as to why some big names will get traded or drafted at this time of the calendar year. The teams that make trades for players will have large salaries, and won't have a negative effect on their cap space.

The Buffalo Bills have been very vocal about their plans to sign quarterback Josh Allen to a long-term extension. Most specifically, to do it by the summer, before or during training camp. The Bills could also be one of the many teams interested in players like Julio Jones and Zach Ertz.

.@stefondiggs is chasing greatness... pic.twitter.com/SXKbkpxlUa

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) May 27, 2021

Stefon Diggs isn't the only Buffalo Bills player to restructure their contract as of late. Mario Addison, Mitch Morse and Vernon Butler have all recently reworked their contracts as well.