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Bills GM Gives Update on Progress of Josh Allen’s Contract Extension

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Josh Allen

Getty Josh Allen throws a pass against the New England Patriots.

The Buffalo Bills are hoping to lock down Josh Allen with a long-term extension this summer, but it isn’t happening just yet.

The team’s general manager gave an update on the status of talks this week, giving a timeline for when he hopes to sign Allen to a long-term deal but saying there hasn’t been much progress yet. Insiders suggest that Allen could be headed to one of the league’s top contracts, but it remains unclear just when that might happen.

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Bills Working on Extension

Shortly after the season ended with the Bills falling just short of the Super Bowl, general manager Brandon Beane made it clear that locking down Allen for the long-term was one of the biggest priorities for the offseason. He originally said that the work would likely start after the draft, but gave an update this week saying that it’s been slow going so far.

“No, there’s really nothing to give you on that,” Beane said, via James Palmer of NFL Media. “If something were to happen this summer, we’ll definitely let you know and hopefully it’s coming from us and not being broke somewhere else. Other than that, there nothing I can give you.”

Allen had a significant jump between his second and third seasons, and in 2020 passed for 4,544 passing yards with 37 touchdown passes while adding 421 yards rushing with eight touchdowns and even catching a touchdown pass. It was one of the best statistical season in franchise history, and made Allen the first member of the Buffalo Bills to garner MVP votes in a generation.

The talks to lock Allen down for the long-term appear to be on pace, as Beane had said earlier this year that the negotiations could stretch through the summer.

“We’ll talk to Josh and his people probably later in the spring after the draft where we can just focus on that,” Beane said during a video conference call back in March. “That’s obviously a big financial commitment that you have to make so that will probably be in May through the summer.”

Beane added that giving Allen a contract extension was the “biggest piece” of the team’s offseason plans, though said the process was slowed up a bit initially due to uncertainty over just where the salary cap would land for the year. The Bills have recently freed up some space, converting $11.7 million in Stefon Diggs’ salary to a signing bonus.

Allen Expected to Snag Big Contract

Coming off a year in which he set a number of franchise records and led the team to the AFC Championship game, Allen is expected to get a major financial commitment from the team and a significant new deal. Sportrac predicted that the Bills would choose not to offer the kind of long-term deal that the Chiefs gave to Patrick Mahomes, opting for something closer to the 4-year, $156 million extension that the Houston Texans gave Deshaun Watson.

Sportrac predicted that Allen would ultimately receive a four-year, $168 million contract, including $115 million in guaranteed money.

READ NEXT: Analyst Predicts Monstrous Year for Bills’ Josh Allen, Makes New Prediction

Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions for Heavy.com. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty

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