The Buffalo Bills celebrated over the weekend after signing star quarterback Josh Allen to a historically large contract deal, and there is more than one legitimate cause for their joy.
First and foremost, Allen is the current NFL Most Valuable Player and is coming off an outstanding season in 2024. He is now committed to Buffalo for the next six years, entering his age-29 season, which represents the majority of what has traditionally been the prime of professional quarterbacks. Second, despite signing Allen to a $330 million contract with a league-high $250 million in guaranteed money, the Bills saved money on the Allen deal — and by a lot.
On Monday, March 10, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell explained how Buffalo retained up to $90 million in its coffers, which Allen could have — and arguably should have — requested. Allen has certainly accepted a lower compensation than his skills and the quarterback market would indicate.
Allen’s $55 million average is tied for second-highest in the league with Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, and Trevor Lawrence. The difference is that those players signed contracts in lower-cap circumstances. Burrow’s deal occurred in 2023, when the cap was set at $224.8 million. Love and Lawrence signed in 2024, when the limit rose to $255.4 million. The ceiling is now set at $279.2 million in 2025, up roughly 24% when Burrow and Allen signed their contracts.
Put another perspective, $55 million is 19.7% of the current cap. In terms of extension average annual value, this ranks 13th among active quarterbacks on multiyear veteran contracts. It’s comparable to Derek Carr (who signed for 16.7% of the cap as a free agent) rather than [Dak] Prescott (23.5%). Allen might have legitimately demanded for $70 million per year on a new contract. At $70 million per year, Allen would earn $15 million extra per season over six years, for a total of $90 million.
Barnwell explained that part of Allen’s motivation for accepting so much less than he could have demanded was likely due to the Bills’ decision to completely discard the four years remaining on the quarterback’s most recent contract and completely redo it — a move Barnwell described as essentially “unprecedented” in the modern NFL.
