The Buffalo Bills on Wednesday continued to make cost-cutting roster moves, this time by parting ways with former starting left guard Jon Feliciano.
Feliciano Tweeted a goodbye to Buffalo early Thursday evening without mentioning why.
But around the same time, Matt Parrino of Syracuse.com reported that the Bills were planning to release Feliciano after he refused their offer of a pay cut, according to a source. He amended his Tweet by saying general manager Brandon Beane denied offering Feliciano a pay cut.
Finally, the team confirmed the move later on Wednesday evening.
The departure of Feliciano means the Bills lower their salary cap space by another $3.3 million, according to Over The Cap. This, after jettisoning linebacker A.J. Klein the day before in a move that saved them $5.1 million.
According to Beane, the Bills began this week around $6.5 million over the cap, which was determined by the NFL on Monday to be $208.2 million. Although these moves get them under the cap, the Bills need to make many more cost-cutting moves to be players in the free-agent market and be able to sign all their draft picks and undrafted free agents and perhaps some of their own players who are due to become unrestricted free agents.
Feliciano had started 31 games for the Bills since signing with them in 2019, after four seasons with the Oakland Raiders, where he was a backup.
In 2021, Feliciano was sidelined by a calf injury and later by a bout with COVID-19. The second absence led to Bates replacing him and remaining the starter even after Feliciano was healthy enough to play again.
Bates is a restricted free agent and could be on the move as well, though the Bills are expected to offer him a tender or work out a new contract that will keep him in Buffalo at least one more year.
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