Bills Expected To Seek Repayment Of CB Vontae Davis’ Signing Bonus

According to Ian Rapoport, the Bills are expected to seek repayment of CB Vontae Davis‘ signing bonus after his surprising decision to retire from the NFL during last week’s game.

As of now, the Bills have not filed the paperwork to have Davis repay them his signing bonus, but it is expected to happen.

Davis was set to earn a $2.25 million salary, along with a $1.5 million signing bonus and $1 million total in per-game roster bonuses and a $250,000 workout bonus this season.

The Bills officially placed Davis on the reserve/left squad list Friday night, which voids the remaining guarantees included in his deal.

Rapoport adds that the Bills may argue that because Davis left mid-game, he’s only entitled to 1/17th instead of 2/17 of his signing bonus.

All in all, Davis’ retirement could lead to him walking away with less than $700,000 for a 2018 salary that could’ve been worth as much as $5 million

The Buffalo Bills officially placed CB Vontae Davis on the left squad list Saturday.

This comes less than a week after Davis surprising quit during the Bills’ Week 2 game and informed the team that he’s retiring from the NFL.

Davis explained his surprising decision to retire in the middle of Sunday’s game in an interview with Domonique Foxworth of The Undefeated.

“I went to the bench after that series and it just hit me,” Davis said. “I don’t belong on that field anymore.”

Davis said he went up to DBs coach John Butler and told him “I’m done,” and returned to his spot on the bench. Butler didn’t respond to Davis and replaced him at cornerback with Lafayette Pitts.

According to Davis, “I didn’t feel right, I didn’t feel like myself” at the start of the game.

“I didn’t expect them to understand,” Davis said of his teammates and others in the Bills organization. “That moment was shocking to me as well.

“My intention was not to hurt my teammates. In that moment, my intuition was telling me I don’t belong on that field anymore.”

Davis, 30, is a former first-round pick of the Dolphins back in 2009. He spent three years in Miami before he was traded to the Colts for the 2012 season.

Davis was in the final year of his four-year, $36 million contract that included $20 million guaranteed and set to make a base salary of $9 million for the 2017 season when the Colts cut him loose last year.

The Bills later signed him to a one-year contract worth $5 million back in February.

For his career, Davis recorded 357 tackles, 22 interceptions, 106 pass defenses, three forced fumbles, a recovery, two sacks and a defensive touchdown over the course of 10 seasons and 121 games. He was a two-time Pro Bowler.