The day before the NFL’s legal tampering period opened up, the Buffalo Bills made a huge move by giving their MVP quarterback Josh Allen a brand new six-year contract extension worth $330 million. However, the biggest thing to take away from this contract was the $250 million guaranteed money that Allen gets.
After winning his first MVP award in his career, as well as becoming the first player in NFL history to record 40+ total touchdowns in five consecutive seasons, it was time to reward Allen. Prior to his new $55 million per year contract, Allen was only making $43 million. In quarterback terms, he was severely underpaid and the Bills fixed that.
The QB market has skyrocketed over the past few years and it’s only going to go up more. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott became the first quarterback to reach $60 million per year. The fact that he is at the top of the league in terms of money per year is a joke.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane did a fantastic job at rewarding his star quarterback, but still managed to keep flexibility moving forward to fill out the rest of the roster.
Josh Allen's new contract may greatly affect the QB market moving forward
Alex Kay from Bleacher Report listed the four biggest questions between free agency and the NFL Draft and Allen’s contract was the first question on the list. Specifically, the question was “How Will Josh Allen's Contract Impact QB Market?” said Kay.
"Allen's contract is ultimately a team-friendly one—he surely could have commanded more per year in wake of winning his first NFL MVP award—and could cost his fellow passers leverage at the negotiating table."Alex Kay, Bleacher Report
Kay would then go into detail about San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Brock Purdy, who is eligible for a contract extension and how Allen’s deal could affect him and the 49ers.
"The first player to see a tangible impact from Allen's deal may be Brock Purdy, who is due for his first extension with the San Francisco 49ers following a blistering start to his career."Alex Kay, Bleacher Report
There is no question that Allen is a better quarterback than Purdy, but Purdy has had a better start to his career than Allen did. In three years, Purdy has worked his way from being the last pick overall in the 2022 NFL Draft to taking the starting job away from both Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance.
Since then, he has taken the 49ers to two NFC championship games as well as a Super Bowl. In a Super Bowl against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, Purdy was solid but came out on the losing end in overtime.
Even though the 49ers missed out on the playoffs last year due to massive amounts of injuries, Purdy still threw for over 3,800 yards and 20 touchdowns while missing two games.
Now he is looking to get paid big time, but the 49ers aren’t looking to break the bank on him. However, with Allen’s massive contract extension, that puts the 49ers’ front office in a very tough spot. Especially considering the fact that Purdy has technically had more success to start his career than Allen, but isn’t the same type of player that Allen is.
The Bills were very smart to get ahead of the curve and give Allen his new deal. It gives them flexibility moving forward and it puts other organizations in tough situations with their franchise quarterbacks.