The Buffalo Bills are blessed with the National Football League’s holy grail: a franchise quarterback on his rookie deal. To their credit, the Bills are taking advantage of their incredible good fortune, bringing back members of their defense and offensive line on discounted deals.
They’ve even re-signed speedster Isaiah McKenzie, and signed veterans Emmanuel Sanders and Mitchell Trubisky on discounted deals.
But all good fortune must come to an end, and for the Bills, that moment could be approaching soon. General manager Brandon Beane says he wants to expedite Josh Allen's inevitable extension.
“It helps you for your planning the sooner you can get that contract done," Beane said during an appearance with the Huddle and Flow podcast with Jim Trotter and Steve Wyche. "Again, I hope that we can get him done, if not this year, next year. You don't want to get into the franchise [tag] and all that stuff.”
On Tuesday, NFL salary cap expert Michael Ginnitti from Spotrac projected what an Allen extension would look like. The comparison is Deshaun Watson, who signed a four-year, $156 million deal with $110 million guaranteed last September.
Since the NFL’s new media rights deal will start in 2023, Allen may want to get back into the market when there is even more crash around the league. With that in mind, it makes sense for Allen to lock in three years now, while giving him a chance to renegotiate afterwards.
While Patrick Mahomes signed a 10-year commitment with the Kansas City Chiefs in February of 2020, we haven’t seen another quarterback approach that figure. Watson and Dak Prescott both signed four-year extensions.
If the Bills sign Allen this spring or summer, his cap hit for the upcoming season could only increase $2.4 million, Spotrac projects. That would be more than doable for Buffalo. The problem comes in 2022, when Allen’s cap hit is projected to soar to $26 million.
With stalwarts like safety Micah Hyde and linebacker Matt Milano taking multi-year discounts, the Bills aren’t in jeopardy of losing their entire core when Allen re-signs. But the days of surrounding him with superfluous veterans such as Cole Beasley and Sanders would probably end.
The reason for that is simple: any quarterback making $100 million should be expected to elevate the pieces around him. That’s what they’re being paid for.
But for one more season, the Bills and Allen can enjoy the best of both worlds. Here’s hoping they make the most of it.
This offseason has certainly offered encouraging signs.
