Orchard Park, NY (WGR550) - Today I begin my annual “State of the Bills roster” series. And, as always, start with the quarterbacks.
Under contract:
- Josh Allen
- Kyle Allen
- Shane Buechele
Since the Bills drafted Josh Allen in 2018, they’ve only selected one other QB in the draft - Jake Fromm in 2020, who served as the team’s “emergency Covid QB” that year.
Otherwise, it’s been veteran backups behind Allen, who currently holds the longest streak for any active quarterback in the league with 122 straight starts.
That durability, along with salary cap constraints, are a big reason why the Bills have not invested a lot of money in the backup position.
Mitch Trubisky, who served as the Bills primary backup the last two seasons, signed a 2-year, $10.5 million free agent deal with the Tennessee Titans, with $6.825 million of that guaranteed.
The Bills brought back Kyle Allen for his second stint with the team after having served as Josh’s backup in 2023. He's scheduled to count just $1.9 million on their salary cap in 2026. For context, 56 NFL QBs have a cap hit of over $2 million as of right now.
Kyle Allen has started 19 games over an 8-year NFL career, completing 62.5% of his passes with 26 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. Not numbers that are going to blow anyone away, but much more experience than Shane Buechele who, after five years in the NFL with the Chiefs and Bills, saw his first-ever game action last year for Kansas City.
The Bills like Buechele’s competitiveness and toughness a lot. He’ll get every shot to win the backup role during camp. But if Josh Allen were to go down for a game or two, as it looks right now, they'd most likely turn to and trust the 30-year old Kyle Allen to manage the game and keep them on track.
If Josh were to be lost for any significant length of time, the team may still go with Allen or Buechele, but they could also look outside the organization for a veteran quarterback who could be available vie trade or free agency.
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