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The Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings find themselves in one of the less common aspects of free agency at the moment.
It involves Ryan Van Demark, restricted free agency and an offer sheet.
Van Demark, the big offensive lineman, entered this offseason as a restricted free agency. That gave the Bills the opportunity to give him a qualifying tender, which they did -- it's for one year and $3.5 million.
As an RFA, though, Van Demark can still negotiate with other teams, and evidently did so. The Vikings made him an offer of one-year, $4.2 million, according to Aaron Wilson.
The key to restricted free agency is now this -- the Bills have five days to match the Vikings' offer.
MORE: Why the Kansas City Chiefs traded for Justin Fields
With unrestricted free agents, they're totally gone. But with restricted free agents, the original team, if they extend that initial qualifying offer, can then match an offer sheet from another team.
If the Bills decide to match the offer sheet, they keep Van Demark, and the Vikings are out of luck..
The 6-foot-6, 307-pound Van Demark played in all 17 games for the Bills in 2025, starting four.
He had played 26 games over the previous two seasons, including two starts.
He's an ideal depth lineman, capable of playing different spots, but isn't necessarily someone you want as a full-time starter.
The Bills aren't in a great situation with the salary cap, but you'd think they could match the offer that raises Van Demark's salary by just $700,000.
Their decision will certainly show us what they think of Van Demark, and how tight they really think their salary cap situation is.
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