Getty
Josh Allen walks onto the field for a game against the
Cincinnati Bengals.
After taking a nearly unprecedented jump between his second and third seasons, Allen appears headed for a solid commitment from the franchise and a major payday. Allen finished second in MVP voting last season and led the team to the doorstep of the Super Bowl, notching a franchise-high 13 wins and dropping a number of team passing records. Negotiations for a new extension beyond his rookie deal are reportedly ongoing, but there have been no solid reports of when it could be signed or just what the terms may look like.
Bills May Be Entering Risky Territory
In a rundown published last week that broke down every NFL team’s riskiest move of 2021, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport wrote that the longer Buffalo waits to sign Allen, the more it is likely to cost for them in the long run.
“At this point, there is zero question Allen’s payday is coming. The only question is when,” Davenport wrote. “And the longer Buffalo waits, the more it will likely cost.”
David De Cristofaro of USA Today’s Bills Wire followed up on the report, noting that the Bills have already given Allen a substantial pay raise after exercising his fifth-year option and that future negotiations may not be as risky as Davenport suggested. He pointed to another recent report that suggested Allen is open to signing a more team-friendly deal that would allow the Bills to remain competitive.
“It’s even been reported Allen may be open to a similar deal in favor of fielding a competitive team around him. [Patrick] Mahomes contract allows the Chiefs to convert base salaries into bonuses, this allows the front office more flexibility to continue to improve their roster,” he noted.
Allen Headed to Major Deal
As Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News noted, there are a number of factors that could affect the length and total money of Allen’s new contract. He reported that the Bills are leaning toward something longer than the four-year, $156 million extension that Deshaun Watson signed with the Houston Texans in early September 2020. That would allow the team to stretch out Allen’s bonus money over more years and keep the cap hits lower for 2021 and 2022.
Allen currently is scheduled to count $6.9 million against the cap, which includes a $2.6 million roster bonus he will get at the start of training camp. If the Bills were to strike a deal before the start of camp and spread out a $30 million bonus over seven years (a six-year extension plus 2021), it is possible they could keep his cap figure for 2021 in the $8.5 million range.
However the deal shakes out, there is widespread belief that very soon Allen will end up as one of the top-paid quarterbacks in the league.
READ NEXT: Analyst Predicts Monstrous Year for Bills’ Josh Allen, Makes New Prediction
