Josh Allen has joined Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes in one of the NFL’s more exclusive—and expensive—clubs.
A one-of-one rookie card featuring the Buffalo Bills quarterback sold privately for $1.7 million, Alt announced on August 6. It is the highest reported price ever paid for an Allen card and gives him two separate cards that have crossed the seven-figure mark.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Conor B. McGrath, Allen, Brady and Mahomes are the only NFL players with multiple card sales of at least $1 million. Brady has produced dozens, while Allen and Mahomes have two apiece.
That distinction makes this more than a niche collectibles transaction. The sale puts Allen’s name beside the two defining quarterbacks of the modern Super Bowl era—even though his own championship résumé remains unfinished.
This 2018 National Treasures NFL Shield 1/1 officially becomes the most expensive Josh Allen card of all-time.
Josh Allen’s Rookie Card Breaks His Record by $350,000
The card is a 2018 Panini National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph, serial numbered one of one. It contains an NFL Shield from Allen’s rookie season and an autograph written directly on the card.
Alt described it as the top version of the coveted National Treasures rookie patch autograph format. Its $1.7 million price surpassed the previous Allen record by $350,000.
That earlier record had stood for less than three months.
A one-of-one 2025 Topps Chrome NFL Honors Gold Shield autograph card sold for $1.35 million on May 22. That card commemorated Allen’s MVP season and contained the special gold NFL Shield from his awards attire.
The distinction between the two cards helps explain why the 2018 version commanded the larger price. The Topps card is connected to a landmark achievement in Allen’s career, but the National Treasures card comes from his rookie year—the period collectors generally view as the foundation of a player’s market.
It also combines nearly every premium feature available on a modern football card: rookie status, an on-card signature, a shield patch and a one-of-one print run.
Allen’s Place Beside Brady and Mahomes Comes With One Difference
The seven-figure company is flattering to Allen, but it also highlights the achievement that continues to separate him from Brady and Mahomes.
Both quarterbacks have won multiple Super Bowls. Allen has developed into one of the NFL’s defining stars and given Buffalo a perennial championship contender, but he has not yet led the Bills to their first Lombardi Trophy.
That gap matters because the buyer of a $1.7 million rookie card is not paying only for what Allen has already accomplished. The price also reflects confidence in how his career will ultimately be remembered.
At 30, Allen is no longer valued primarily as a young quarterback with theoretical upside. His cards are being purchased at prices normally reserved for historically significant athletes. Another deep playoff run would sustain that perception. A Super Bowl victory could transform it.
The reverse is also true. Unlike a Brady card, whose legacy is settled, a high-end Allen purchase still carries substantial career risk. Sports Illustrated noted that Allen’s long-term market must eventually confront the championship question, particularly when his closest million-dollar peers have multiple rings.
For now, however, Allen has reached a level few football players ever touch. His newest record did not come from a contract, endorsement or game check.
It came from one small piece of his rookie season, and somebody valued it at $1.7 million.
Josh Allen Joins Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes With Rare $1.7 Million Feat