While several teams made big splashes on the first day of the NFL’s free agency negotiating period, the Buffalo Bills - who are still trying to get salary cap compliant - have not signed an outside free agent as of Monday evening.

Instead, they concentrated on taking care of their own players, first by re-working contracts to create salary cap space which came in three key moves.

The big one, the one everyone knew was coming, was restructuring the contract of quarterback Josh Allen which freed up more than $16 million and got them under the league-mandated $255.4 million ceiling, though their own figure may be slightly altered once each team's cap number is established based on carryover money from 2023. Interestingly, they could have converted more of Allen's base salary to bonus and chopped off an additional $6 million, but they chose to hold some of that back to lessen his future cap hit.

Left tackle Dion Dawkins was handsomely rewarded with a three-year, $60.5 million contract extension a move that served the dual purpose of locking him up through 2027 while also freeing up what could be as much as $7 million in cap space.

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Lastly, they restructured the contract of tight end Dawson Knox by converting the bulk of his $4.9 base salary into a bonus which should open around $4 million.

There is still more Beane could do - extensions for cornerback Taron Johnson and linebacker Matt Milano are possible - but these last three transactions allowed them to start signing their own free agents - edge rusher A.J. Epenesa, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones and defensive back Cam Lewis.

As Day 2 of the negotiating period begins Tuesday, the Bills may start to look at outside free agents to start filling more holes on the defensive line, the secondary, and possibly wide receiver and running back.

Epenesa's deal is for two years and $12 million with $10.6 million guaranteed with a chance to earn another $4 million through incentives tied to snap count and sacks.

Epenesa, who was Buffalo’s 2020 second-round pick, is coming off back-to-back 6.5-sack seasons and in those two seasons became a key part of the defensive line rotation. He also batted down 13 passes in the last two years. His return gives the Bills four edge rushers as he rejoins Von Miller, Greg Rousseau and Kingsley Jonathan.

Jones agreed to a two-year, $16 million contract with $10.5 million guaranteed. He was a player who many considered one of the most important members of Buffalo’s defense in 2023, and the No. 1 priority to re-sign. The 32-year-old was an ideal partner for Ed Oliver during his first two seasons in Buffalo, working as the blocker-occupying one-technique tackle. Jones was playing at a Pro Bowl level before suffering a pectoral muscle injury in Week 5 against the Jaguars and went on to miss 10 games.

It took time for the Bills to overcome that loss, but he eventually returned to play in Week 16 and then in the postseason, and while not quite back at his earlier level, he showed enough to convince the team that it needed to make sure he stayed off the free agent market.

Lewis will ink a two-year deal reportedly worth $4 million which fits nicely into Buffalo’s cap and also gives him a pay bump. He made it clear after the 2023 season that he was hoping to return to Buffalo.

“Free agency this year so we’ll see what happens,” Lewis said the day after the loss to the Chiefs. “You never know in this business but I felt like I had a good year so I feel like I should be somewhere. Hopefully it’s back here but you never know with this business so yeah, just chill out, workout, and then get back to the grind.”

Lewis has carved out a niche on the roster because he can play safety, nickel corner and special teams. He has played 42 games in four seasons, four as a starter.

The safety position is in flux with Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde both gone. Taylor Rapp was re-signed and will compete for one starting job and Lewis will get a chance, but the Bills would probably rather sign a more experienced safety in free agency, or pick one in the draft to fill the other spot. Lewis has never really profiled as a full-time starter.

Dawkins was an obvious extension candidate because he was carrying the third-highest cap hit on the roster at $16.6 million behind only Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs.

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The playful Dawkins couldn’t help himself once the 12 p.m. negotiating period began and he sent out a cryptic message via social media that made it look like he was done in Buffalo. Of course, no one could have believed that because that was never a possibility, and only minutes later, the Bills announced the extension.

“I don’t really see it as a prank,” he said with a smile on his face via Zoom. “I’m an entertainer, I’m going to entertain, so I was missing the Bills Mafia and had to figure out which way I could get a little back and forth. I just woke up trolling.”

Turning sentimental, he said Buffalo is the only place he wants to be.

“When you start a new chapter in your life, you’re born again,” he said. “I feel like when I got drafted by the Buffalo Bills … it was like I was born and I was a baby. Buffalo was my mother and my father, so who the heck wants to walk away from mom and dad? Because I don’t, and that’s how and I see it, like Buffalo embraced me.

“I’m loyal to what’s loyal to me and Buffalo has been loyal to me. Buffalo has shown me love and I don’t want to be one of those guys who walks away from greatness because there’s palm trees or casinos. No, Buffalo is Buffalo, the snow, the wings, the table jumps. I can’t see myself starting over with someone else.”

Dawkins had a surprise visitor on his Zoom as head coach Sean McDermott popped in to congratulate him.

“That kind of shows what I was just talking about,” Dawkins said. “It’s McD, it’s Beane, it’s Pegula. My head coach just jumped on a Zoom call when he could be chilling with his family. It’s those little things that they do to make it special, and for them to continue to do what they do, it means everything. That right there shows why McD is McD. He’s a stone cold killer but he’s a good man at heart and a great father and that’s all I can ask for.”

Dawkins is now locked up through 2027 and if he plays the life of the contract it would take him into his age 33 season. He’s coming off three straight Pro Bowl invitations and he said he felt 2023 was his best season yet.

“I did have the best season of my career last year,” he said. “I think the recipe for what we’re pushing for is there. As an individual, I’m going to get better, planning on more Pro Bowls, all of that. I’m planning on being the best version of myself again and again and again. I could never leave that community, I couldn’t walk away for nothing.”

The contract extension Knox signed before the 2022 season does not look good now that Dalton Kincaid is the No. 1 tight end now and Knox’s cap hit - which was scheduled to be a bloated $14.3 million in 2024 - had to be reduced.

Kincaid caught more passes in his rookie season (73) than Knox has caught in the last two seasons (70). Part of that was because Knox missed five games with a hand injury, but his 22 catches for 186 yards and two TDs was a vast underperformance given his contract.

As for the departures, the big one was wide receiver Gabe Davis who agreed to a three-year, $39 million contract with Jacksonville which reportedly included $11 million guaranteed and could get to $50 million if Davis hits certain incentives.

This allows Davis to play back in his native Florida, and it also reunites him with former Bills’ receivers coach Chad Hall, a point that former Bills receiver Cole Beasley trumpeted on social media. It’s hard to recall a position coach in Buffalo who seems to have been more beloved than Hall.

Also, edge rusher Leonard Floyd is reportedly signing with the 49ers. Floyd reestablished his market value with a solid season in Buffalo as he set a career high with 10.5 sacks. His contract is two years for $20 million with $12 million guaranteed.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out each Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills focus on signing Dion Dawkins, A.J. Epenesa to start free agency