MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 02: Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills leads the team on to the field prior to the game between the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on December 2, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)2021 is the last year in which Josh Allen will be a cheap asset for the Buffalo Bills. The team has a fifth-year option, worth over $23 million, available for 2022, but after the sizable deals given to Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott in the last year, a lot of attention has turned to the situation with the Bills QB.
Allen has made it no secret that he wants to stay with the Bills for the long haul. With how he played in 2020, that’s fantastic news for the franchise. He threw for 4,544 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, completing nearly 70-percent of his throws. He also ran for 421 yards and eight touchdowns.
The former Wyoming star recently appeared on The Ringer’s “10 Questions with Kyle Brandt,” and kept the company line: he wants a long term deal from the Bills, but he’s leaving negotiations up to his agent, and is not stressing about the timing of things.
“When it happens, it happens,” he told the NFL Network host. “Honestly, I love playing football. I want to listen and be engaged in the contract talks. Ultimately that’s why you pay your agents, and that why you hire a guy like (Bills GM) Brandon Beane and (assistant GM) Joe Schoen, and the front office guys and what they do.”
When will @JoshAllenQB sign a long-term extension? He answers this and more on '#10Questions With @KyleBrandt.' pic.twitter.com/Branl1t0HK
— The Ringer (@ringer) April 7, 2021
“They’ll iron out the details, and if we can get to something soon, I’d obviously love to be locked down in Buffalo for a very long time,” Josh Allen continued. “It’s a place that I call home. I love being there. I love the fan base. I love the city.
“It’s everything that I want, is there. If they called up and wanted to talk tomorrow, I’d be willing, but we’ll see. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
He hopes that bridge does not involve the franchise tag, though. When asked about that possibility, he made his thoughts very clear:
“Eww,” Allen gave as an immediate response to the tag. “I don’t think it’s great for the team, nor the player. Again, I need to do more research on it, but if you look at the guys that’ve been tags in the past couple years, as far as the quarterback position goes, it was Dak, and Kirk Cousins.
“And at the end of the day, you could make the case that they should’ve just done the deal the year prior, or a couple years prior. So it is what it is. At the end of the day, whatever happens, happens. It’s not gonna deter me from trying to be the best quarterback for the Bills.”
Allen has made unbelievable strides from his rookie year, when he completed less than 53-percent of his throws, to this past season when he was a legitimate MVP candidate. It would probably behoove the Bills to lock him up as soon as they can, given that trajectory.
