I like Hogan but even I'm surprised by the money. Not only is 4/$12m a hefty chunk of change, but loading over $5m in the first year is a big commitment considering the team isn't exactly cap rich this year... They're around $16m in space so this deal would put them down to $11m, that's not very much. I think the idea that his signing being a catalyst to push an Amendola restructure, or otherwise a release, to save more cap space has some merit. They could be thinking they'll load a little extra money this year and they'll get it back from cutting from Danny's deal or from just cutting Danny period.
So not only must they really like him, but they REALLY don't want Buffalo to match. They've made it basically impossible unless Buffalo cuts some guys or manages some restructures to save several million dollars within the next 5 days.