Getty Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills celebrates in the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 24, 2022.
The biggest move that the Buffalo Bills (12-3) made during the offseason was landing superstar edge rusher Von Miller, and in order to get the eight-time Pro Bowler to Orchard Park, general manager Brandon Beane enlisted the help of quarterback Josh Allen.
The Athletic‘s Kalyn Kahler revealed that before Miller inked his six-year, $120 million contract with the Bills in March, he received an epic recruitment text from Allen.
When Beane reached out to Allen for help, the 26-year-old was golfing in Newport, California with the man who would become the Bills’ third-string quarterback for the 2022 NFL season, Matt Barkley, and together, they tried calling Miller. “I think Von has a couple numbers, so we were trying to figure out which one to call,” Barkley said. “We kept getting a dead ringtone.”
After figuring out the correct phone number, Barkley said Allen also sent Miller quite the text message after they hung up. The text was a brief, three-line message taking a shot at all three of Allen’s AFC East rival quarterbacks:
“Zach Wilson. Tua Tagovailoa. Mac Jones.”
“You get to play these guys six times a year,” Barkley said. “Have at it. Why would you not want to come? I don’t know if that sold him or not, but it was a heavy pitch.”
Bills Mafia strongly reacted to Allen’s recruitment text. One Bills fan tweeted, “No way he said this bro lmfaoooo,” while Cover 1 podcast hosts wrote, “Oh my QB1.”
Oh my QB1 #BillsMafia
“Rockstar s***,” another Bills fan tweeted,
Bills rivals fans, however, didn’t appreciate the hit. A Jets fan tweeted, “And yall took an L from 2 of those guys and still gotta play the other one again….,” while a Dolphins fan wrote, “Everybody tough when they up.”
Allen Used the Leverage With Miller to Get Barkley Back to Buffalo
GettyMatt Barkley #5 and Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills warm up prior to the AFC Wild Card Playoff game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on January 04, 2020.
Unbeknownst to Barkley, when Allen received the call from Beane to reach out to Miller, the Wyoming alum agreed on one basis. “I’m like, alright, well, I need you to sign Matt,” Allen said. “And he said, okay I’ll see what I can do.”
Barkley previously served as Allen’s backup between 2018 and 2020, and Allen wanted a familiar face in the quarterbacks’ room after his backups from the 2021 NFL season, Mitch Trubisky and Davis Webb, left to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants, respectively.
The very next day, Allen called Barkley to come back to Buffalo, and a week later, he signed with the team.
“That made me pretty happy,” Allen said.
The Bills Have a Huge Primetime Game Vs. Bengals in Week 17
“That’s everybody’s opinion. We know who we are in this locker room.”
If you’re tired of the Bills hype, I get it. If the #Bengals are sick of it, they didn’t show it.
On respect, public opinion and what might be the biggest regular season game ever at Paycor Stadium.
Next up, the Bills (12-3), have what feels like a playoff game in Week 17, a primetime matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals (11-4) on Monday Night Football. For the first time since Week 6, Buffalo is considered an underdog for this road game. Quarterback Joe Burrow and the Bengals opened as 1.5-point favorites to defeat the Bills.
While Buffalo already punched their ticket to the postseason, they’re fighting to hold onto the No. 1 spot in the AFC and clinch home-field advantage.