The Buffalo Bills and rookie head coach Joe Brady aren’t taking a careful approach to their preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers at the new Highmark Stadium on Saturday.
According to Brady, if you’re physically able, you’re playing. That includes starting quarterback and 2024 NFL MVP Josh Allen.
“Joe Brady says all healthy Bills players will play in the team’s first preseason game against the Panthers on Saturday,” Bills reporter Alex Brasky wrote on his official X account on Thursday. “That includes Josh Allen.”
“Bills QB Josh Allen and other healthy starters will play Saturday in the team’s preseason opener vs. the Carolina Panthers, per HC Joe Brady,” The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov wrote on his official X account on Thursday.
Josh Allen: NFL’s Most Popular (and Best) Player
Headed into his 9th season, Allen is breathing the kind of rare air NFL players ever get to occupy — he is both the NFL’s best and most popular player.
That he’s done so without even playing in a Super Bowl speaks to the kind of across-the-board appeal Allen has, as well as the rare skill set he possesses.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell did trade valuations for all 32 NFL teams before training camp, with Allen a clear-cut No. 1 on that list with a staggering 7 1st-round picks as the price for obtaining the 2024 NFL Most Valuable Player.
“Let’s start with the most significant and impossible valuation in the league,” Barnwell wrote on July 16. “Allen, who just finished atop Jeremy Fowler’s poll of league executives as the league’s best quarterback, has been a superstar for the Bills over the past six seasons. He has done it without anything resembling an elite receiver, all while adding significant value with his legs on scrambles and designed runs. Allen turned 30 in May, so there are undoubtedly QBs who would potentially be available deeper into the future than the Bills star. Given that he hasn’t missed a start since 2018, though, Allen might offer more stability over the next six to seven years than any other quarterback in football. And of those younger passers, there isn’t really another one who has had the same multiyear run of MVP-level performance that Allen has exhibited over the past half-decade.”
Josh Allen’s Value to Bills Goes Beyond Football
.In June, the NFL Players Association announced Allen topped its annual list of jersey sales and merchandise — both in the United States and internationally.
You can also make a good argument that the $2.2 billion Highmark Stadium, which will see an actual football game for the 1st time against the Panthers, wouldn’t have been built without Allen’s magic.
From the NFLPA: “Josh Allen has claimed the No. 1 spot on the NFL Players Association’s Year-End Top 50 Player Sales List, the only verified ranking of officially licensed NFL player merchandise sold at retail. Compiled annually using sales data from more than 85 NFLPA licensees, the Year-End Top 50 Player Sales List captures consumer purchases from March 2025 through February 2026 across online and in-store retail channels and provides the most comprehensive snapshot of consumer demand for NFL players and their officially licensed products. ”
Buffalo Bills Make Final Decision on QB Josh Allen for Preseason Opener