Could Bills be moving closer to Josh Allen contract extension?
Now that the NFL's reduced salary cap for 2021 is starting to come more into focus, with estimates putting it around $180 million, the Bills could be closer to getting a contract extension done with quarterback Josh Allen.
The negotiation will be complicated because the figure will be so large and general manager Brandon Beane will want some flexibility for an escape if Allen's career takes the kind of unexpected down turn as those of Jared Goff, who was just traded from the Los Angeles Rams to Detroit and Carson Wentz, who soon will be traded by Philadelphia.
On the other hand, with two more seasons remaining on Allen's rookie deal, there is room to push the numbers of the franchise's richest and most important contract around enough to give the Bills a chance to grow this team around him and not handcuff them from future free agents.
"I think we can make something fit," Beane said after the season ended. "Without getting into how we would do it, I think there are ways we could make it fit. I’m looking forward to here real soon, hopefully in the next few weeks, finding out what this cap is going to be, or at least close to what it will be so we can start looking at some of our pending free agents.
"But there are ways we can do it and we’ll have to be creative with it for sure based on our current cap situation. But I definitely think it can be done."
Allen's breakout season, incredibly achieved without an effective running game, has him headed for a massive payday.
His 4,544 passing yards, 37 TD passes and eight TD runs for the NFL's second-highest scoring offense landed him in second place in the league's MVP balloting.
Though he is not expected to receive an offer as lucrative as the 10-year extension Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes signed last year that will pay him an average yearly salary of $45 million, Allen can expect an average of around, say, at least $40 million.
Though the Bills could retain his rights through the 2023 season by doing nothing but using the franchise tag when his contract expires, getting him locked in sooner rather than later will help them be able to start focusing on other areas they will need to address to remain championship contenders during his peak years.
The Bills, according to overthecap.com, are projected with total cap liabilities of $188 million for 2021. However, Beane has structured the contracts of many veterans so that they can easily get under the cap with some tweaks and possibly be able to re-sign all their valued players whose contracts have expired, like linebacker Matt Milano and tackle Daryl Williams.
A new contract for Allen would help them with all other negotiations.
Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro.
