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Josh Allen is likely headed toward a big contract extension from the Buffalo Bills, a new analysis projects.
The Bills quarterback saw a massive improvement between his second and third seasons, passing for 4,544 passing yards with 37 touchdown passes, adding 421 yards rushing with eight touchdowns, and a receiving touchdown. He led the Bills to the AFC Championship game, snagged four MVP votes, and now the team appears to be looking to lock him down for the long-term.
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Allen Projected to Land Major Deal
In its analysis, Sportrac predicted that the Bills would give Allen a deal similar to the 4-year, $156 million extension that the Houston Texans gave to Deshaun Watson. The site projected that Allen would receive a four-year, $168 million contract with an average annual salary of $42 million and $115 million in guaranteed money.
The deal would give Allen the second-highest new money average salary ($42 million), behind Patrick Mahomes. The Bills signal caller would also be second in the NFL to Mahomes in total value of new money, with $168 million.
But the site predicted that Allen would break with Mahomes in terms of total number of years, with the Bills opting against giving their quarterback anything similar to the 10-year deal that the Chiefs quarterback took.
“There’s been a lot of back and forth with how long rookie extension contracts should be, especially after Patrick Mahomes locked in a MLB-style deal with Kansas City. Additionally, the popularity of void years could reduce actual years on the backend of some contracts, making them shorter true length, but still with the proration spread that teams desire for cap purposes. With that said, we’ll make this a somewhat traditional extension, 4 years on top of the current year & 5th-year option already attached to his rookie contract.”
Contract Talks Expected to Continue
The Bills have already made it clear that Allen’s contract extension is one of the biggest priorities going forward. When general manager Brandon Beane spoke to reporters after the season ended with a loss in the AFC Championship game, he said the team planned to talk to Allen’s representation at some point this offseason.
In March, Beane gave more clarity about when the process would play out, saying the discussions were likely to start after the NFL Draft.
“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. “That’s obviously a big financial commitment that you have to make so that will probably be in May through the summer.”
Beane said that Allen’s contract extension will be the “biggest piece” of the team’s plans for the coming year and the years to come, but said the uncertainty of where the salary cap would land created some complications in the process. While the team is awaiting the talks with Allen to start, they already brought back a number of key players from last year’s 13-3 campaign, including new deals for linebacker Matt Milano and offensive lineman John Feliciano.
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