Buffalo Bills 21 pending free agents in 21 days - quarterback Kyle Allen

If you ask most Bills fans, they have no desire to see Kyle Allen return in 2024. However, I am not a fan of signing yet another journeyman quarterback to back up Josh Allen. I get it, maybe there are one or two free agent quarterbacks that might be better options but at least with Kyle, he already knows the offense, the coaches, and the players. There isn't a learning curve or an acclimation period. Kyle has already gone through that.

The Bills paid Kyle over $1.2 million last season to backup Josh. I have to assume that if he were to return, it would be roughly the same amount. The one thing I would add to this though is the possibility of adding a rookie to the mix through the NFL Draft this season. Hear me out. If you draft a QB in the sixth or seventh round, you get a backup on a rookie deal for the next four years. Re-sign Allen for one more year, then turn the backup role over to the rookie in year two.

There are several reasons to do this. One, I already mentioned. You get a backup under contract on a rookie deal. Two, you have Kyle under contract next year to help the young rookie learn and develop within the Bills offensive scheme. Three, you never know, you just might draft a pretty good quarterback that looks good in the preseason, then you have the option of trading him after year three, similar to the Matt Schaub scenario when the Falcons traded him to the Texans for a handful of picks.

For the record, if the rookie turns out to be pretty good and Josh Allen were to go down for an extended period, maybe the team can still win some games. With other journeyman free agent quarterbacks, you know what you're getting and that's not very good QB play. The available free agents would be solid backups, which the Bills can't afford. For example, I've seen some fans saying Buffalo should sign Gardner Minshew to backup Josh Allen. Check out Spotrac.com's projected market value for Minshew. It's set at over $5 million annual average. You want to pay your backup QB more than $5 million to sit on the bench when the team has several other more pressing needs. No, that makes zero sense.