Offseason Change to Bills' Quarterbacks Room Creates Concern Behind Josh Allen

The Buffalo Bills' quarterbacks room took somewhat of a hit this offseason.

While franchise starter Josh Allen, a five-time NFL MVP finalist, remains atop the depth chart after successfully recovering from minor foot surgery, the Bills lost primary backup Mitch Trubisky to the Tennessee Titans.

As a replacement, Buffalo reunited with Kyle Allen, who was with the team in 2023.

Although no relation to Josh Allen, Kyle has held a friendship with the Bills' QB1 dating back to 2018 when the two prospects prepared for the NFL Draft under the direction of personal QB coach Jordan Palmer.

As for how Buffalo's second-string quarterback situation compares amongst all 32 NFL teams, Kyle Allen came in at No. 29 overall on Sports Illustrated's "Ranking the NFL’s 32 Backup QBs of 2026."

Allen, who will presumably win the primary backup job although it isn't a lock as we'll explain later, is viewed as better than only three second-string quarterbacks — Dallas Cowboys' Joe Milton, Miami Dolphins' Quinn Ewers and New York Jets' rookie Clade Klubnik.

It's actually the same spot where Trubisky ranked entering the 2025 campaign. After performing well in limited action for Buffalo, Trubisky's stock has risen to the No. 22 spot, which seems a tad underrated for a former No. 2 overall pick with a winning career record.

The 31-year-old Trubisky was just too expensive for the cap-strapped Bills to bring back with the Titans giving him a two-year, $10.5 million contract (per Spotrac).

"It’s a bit surprising that the Bills, who are in win-now mode, don’t have better options behind Josh Allen. Then again, if the perennial MVP candidate goes down due to injury, this team has slim hopes for winning a Super Bowl," said Sports Illustrated national writer Gilberto Manzano, who ranked all 32 NFL probable second-stringers.

Kyle Allen vs. Mitch Trubisky

While Allen is a professional with eight years of NFL experience, there is definitely a drop in ability when compared to Trubisky, who has quarterbacked a team to the playoffs before.

If the Bills were forced to deploy their backup for a significant stretch of time, Trubisky would've been a better option than Allen. The former is 31-26, and that doesn't include his four-touchdown effort in the 2025 regular season finale against the New York Jets because Josh Allen took the game's first snap.

Comparatively, Allen, who has completed one pass over the last three seasons combined, owns a 7-12 career record as a starter. While Allen made seven appearances for the Bills in 2023, they were mostly in victory formation and he did not attempt a pass all year.

Allen owns a 62.2 percent career completion percentage with 26 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions on his ledger. The bulk of his starts came for the 2019 Carolina Panthers. Over 13 games, he threw for 3,332 yards and 17 touchdowns while being intercepted 16 times.

Completing passes at a 64.4 percent clip, Trubisky has thrown for 13,028 yards and 78 touchdowns passes compared to 48 interceptions over his career. The UNC product's best season yielded a Pro Bowl nod with the Chicago Bears in 2018. That season, he registered a 66.6 completion percentage while passing for 3,223 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions over 14 starts (11-3).

Could Bills win games with Shane Buechele?

Buechele, who was first assigned to the Kansas City Chiefs' practice squad in 2021, is back with the Bills in 2026.

The 28-year-old Buechele, who has also become close with Josh Allen, spent the 2023, 2024 and 2025 seasons as a Buffalo practice squad quarterback. The Chiefs, who needed another body in the quarterbacks room in order to complete the season, claimed Buechele off the Bills' practice squad late last December.

Jan 4, 2026; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Shane Buechele (17) is tackled by Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway (97) in the second half at Allegiant Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Returning to Buffalo for the playoffs, Buechele subsequently signed a futures contract. Despite the native Texan having only one career appearance, he will presumably have a chance to win the Bills' backup job.

Although the performance must be viewed in perspective, Buechele was sensational in Buffalo's 2025 preseason finale. The career reserve went 25-of-30 passing for 278 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 20 yards in the 23-19 exhibition road win.

At Wednesday's minicamp practice, Buechele reportedly made an impressive connection with tryout WR Deven Thompkins, who laid out for a deep ball. WGR's Sal Capaccio described the play on X. The play likely helped Thompkins earn a contract.

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