Getty Josh Allen reacts to a play in the AFC Championship.
Josh Allen is headed toward a huge payday, but the Buffalo Bills may end up getting a bit of a break on the deal.
The team has been working with Allen’s camp on a long-term extension and reportedly moving closer to a deal, and an insider now claims that the Pro Bowl quarterback may be willing to give a little back on the deal. The report indicates that Allen wants to make sure that the team can stay competitive over the long term while also ensuring he gets the new contract he’s earned.
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Allen Giving Back
Since drafting Allen in 2018, the Bills have been steadily rising in the AFC with two straight playoff appearances and a trip to the AFC Championship game last year. Allen himself took a massive jump between his second and third seasons, racking up 4,544 passing yards with 37 touchdown passes in 2020. He added 421 yards rushing with eight touchdowns, along with a receiving touchdown.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane said earlier this year that they wanted to get working on a new contract, but stressed that there was no set timeframe and he expected negotiations to take a while.
“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 on a video conference call. “That’s obviously a big financial commitment that you have to make so that will probably be in May through the summer.”
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler revealed this week that Allen may be willing to work with the team a little on that new deal. While that may not mean a true hometown discount, Allen is leaning toward a deal that would allow the Bills to still build a strong team around him, Fowler said.
Josh Allen is a laser show 🎯
“As was told to me, look, he knows he’s going to get paid eventually, the Bills know he’s going to get paid eventually, so neither side is particularly worried about it,” Fowler said on ESPN, via Bleacher Report. “I’m told that Allen loves being in Buffalo enough where he’s willing to structure things, ya know, that helps the team a little bit. Certainly, he’s not going to take a discount by any stretch—he’s a top-five quarterback. But he wants them to stay competitive in future years with him in the fold.”
Big Deal Projected for Allen
Even with the potential for some flexibility to keep the team competitive, Allen is still expected to score a massive deal and become one of the league’s highest-paid signal callers, though the exact terms are still in question. In an analysis published earlier this year, Sportrac predicted that the Bills would opt against giving the massively long-term deal that the Kansas City Chiefs gave to Patrick Mahomes, instead giving Allen something closer to the 4-year, $156 million extension that Deshaun Watson got from the Houston Texans.
💰🔜❓
Jamal Adams
Proj: 4yr, $66M ($36M guaranteed)
Josh Allen
Proj: 4yr, $164M ($128M guaranteed)
Lamar Jackson
Proj: 4yr, $168M ($130M guaranteed)
Quenton Nelson
Proj: 5yr, $94M ($50M guaranteed)
T.J. Watt
Proj: 5yr, $145M ($105M guaranteed)
More: t.co/XPMatFsHeO
The site predicted that the Bills would give Allen a $168 million contract with an average annual salary of $42 million and $115 million in guaranteed money. That would give Allen the second-highest new money average salary and total value of new money in the league, behind only Mahomes on both accounts.
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