According to a report from Over the Cap, the Buffalo Bills and Tyler Bass have agreed to a new contract that could keep Bass in Western New York in 2026. Bass missed the 2025 season with an injury and Matt Prater performed very well in his place.
Bass was set to make $3.85 million in base salary in 2026 and $3.2 million in 2027 on his deal signed in 2023. Now he will make $2.45 million in 2026 and has the chance to earn $4.3 million in 2027.
In exchange for the pay cut, the Bills guaranteed $1 million
to Bass (including paying $500,000 immediately as a signing bonus) and added incentives including a per-game roster bonus of $10,000 up to $170,000 in 2026 only. He has $1 million available in unnamed 2026 incentives, but could include extra point or field percentage and even team performance. Considering the kicker missed the entire 2025 season, the incentives could be anything and still not count against the cap as Not Likely To Be Earned incentives.
Because only $500,000 of his salary is guaranteed, this doesn’t make Bass a roster lock. The Bills could cut him and that $500,000 would be offset but whatever the new team pays him, and that is less than league minimum.
His 2027 spot is also more tenuous, because they moved some of his salary to a roster bonus due the fifth day of the league year. With now a $1.5 million roster bonus due that early in the offseason, Buffalo will need to make a decision early in their process after the Super Bowl.
What are Not Likely To Be Earned incentives?
The Collective Bargaining Agreement splits incentives into Likely To Be Earned (LTBE) and Not Likely To Be Earned (NLTBE). The LTBE incentives were benchmarks the player hit last year while NLTBE incentives weren’t met the prior season. If it’s NLTBE, it doesn’t count on the current year salary cap. If the player achieves the benchmark, it’s added to the following year’s cap commitment.
Tyler Bass yearly contract breakdown
Here are the new numbers for Tyler Bass’s yearly contracts.
2026
2023 signing bonus: $1.02 million
2026 signing bonus: $250,000
Workout bonus: $100,000
Per-game roster bonus: $10,000 per game up to $170,000 (NLTBE)
Base salary: $1.68 million
Incentives: Up to $1.05 million (NLTBE)
Cash: $2.45 million (plus incentives)
Cap hit: $3.05 million
Dead cap if cut: $2.54 million
Cap savings if cut: $500,000
2027
2023 signing bonus: $1.02 million
2026 signing bonus: $250,000
Roster bonus: $1.5 million
Workout bonus: $100,000
Base salary: $2.7 million
Incentives: $50,000
Cash: $4.3 million
Cap hit: $5.57 million
Dead cap if cut: $1.27 million
Cap savings if cut: $4.3 million
