Buffalo Bills center Mitch Morse has agreed to reduce his base salary by $2 million for the 2021 season, some of which he will have a chance to earn back, a league source has confirmed to WGR.
Morse was scheduled to earn $7.025 million as a base salary this coming season, with a salary cap hit of $10.34 million counting the prorated bonus money from the contract he signed to join the team prior to the 2019 season. The move will now reduce his cap hit to $8.34 million.
There was speculation surrounding Morse’s future in Buffalo, considering the team could have saved over $4.8 million in an outright release, and close to $8 million by designating him a June 1 release. However, according to the source, there was no ultimatum given to Morse to take a pay cut, but rather a mutual agreement by both parties in order to help create salary cap space as the team heads into the new league year.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and revenue shortfalls, the league-wide salary cap will be lower than last year‘s $198 million per-team. However, official numbers have not been set yet, but it’s expected to be between $180-$185 million.
If the salary cap is set at $185 million, this move would put the Bills roughly $6.6 million under the cap, according to Spotrac. The team has several free agents set to hit the open market if they cannot be re-signed before the new league year begins March 17 at 4 p.m. ET, including linebacker Matt Milano and offensive linemen Jon Feliciano and Daryl Williams.
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