Bills reward Allen with new
contract after NFL MVP season. Deal is worth $330M, AP source says
[March 10, 2025]
By JOHN WAWROW
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — NFL MVP Josh Allen was rewarded Sunday
with a contract extension worth $330 million, including an NFL
record $250 million of it guaranteed, which makes him among the
league’s highest-paid players.
The Buffalo Bills announced the agreement, while two people with
knowledge of the deal revealed the contract's value to The
Associated Press. The people spoke to the AP on the condition of
anonymity because the Bills did not release that figure, which was
first reported by ESPN.com.
The new deal adds two years to Allen’s contract and locks the
28-year-old in through the 2030 season.
Cleveland quarterback DeShaun Watson's five-year contract signed in
2022 set the previous record in featuring $230 million in
guarantees, per Spotrac.com. The total value of Allen's new contract
ranks second behind Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes, who signed a
10-year, $450 million in 2020.
Meanwhile, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott tops the NFL list in
averaging $60 million per season after signing a four-year, $240
million contract extension last summer.
Allen's new contract follows his seventh NFL season in which he
became the Bills third player to earn NFL MVP, and first since
running back Thurman Thomas did so in 1991. The new deal eclipses
Allen’s previous contract, a six-year $258 million deal he signed
with Buffalo in August 2021.
Allen has established himself as one of the league’s elite
quarterbacks and rewritten nearly every franchise single-season
passing and scoring record at his position. In doing so, he’s
overcome the many questions and criticisms he faced for being
considered a raw and inaccurate player when Buffalo selected him
with the No. 7 pick in the 2018 draft out of Wyoming.
Just as important, Allen has solidified what had been an unsettled
position in Buffalo since Hall of Famer Jim Kelly retired following
the 1996 season. The Bills under Allen have won five consecutive AFC
East titles and are on a six-year playoff run.
Allen’s MVP honor came during a season in which he essentially did
more with what was considered less receiving talent around him.
Adopting an “Everybody Eats” motto, Buffalo ran away with the AFC
East by clinching the division with five games still left in a
13-win season and after the team traded top receiving option Stefon
Diggs to Houston and lost No. 2 receiver Gabe Davis in free agency.
Though Allen failed to top 4,000 yards for the first time since
2019, the quarterback enjoyed his most efficient season with a
career-low six interceptions, a year after throwing a career-worst
18. Allen finished with 28 touchdowns passing, scored another 12
rushing and was credited with a touchdown receiving after completing
a pass to Amari Cooper, who then lateralled the ball back to the
quarterback.
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Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen looks to pass during the second
half of the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Kansas
City Chiefs, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP
Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
The only thing missing for Allen is a Super Bowl
appearance. The Bills have reached the AFC championship game in 2020
and this past season only to lose both times to Kansas City.
The new deal also follows a significant development in Allen’s
personal life. The quarterback proposed to actress and singer Hailee
Steinfeld during the team’s bye week in mid-November. Their
relationship began in the spring of 2023, when pictures emerged of
the two having dinner in New York City.
Allen credited Steinfeld for playing a major supporting role in his
career development.
“She’s been a huge part. The morale, the support. When I get home,
she’s my biggest fan, my biggest supporter. She’s just the best,”
Allen told the AP in December.
The new contract is also expected to provide Buffalo much-needed
savings under the salary cap entering the league’s new business
year, which opens Wednesday. The team was projected to be close to
the cap limit after releasing veteran edge rusher Von Miller earlier
in the day.
And the deal follows GM Brandon Beane spending the past weeks
locking in the young core of the team by signing fourth-year edge
rusher Greg Rousseau and third-year players linebacker Terrel
Bernard and receiver Khalil Shakir to four-year contract extensions.
A two-time All-Pro, Allen’s 76 wins, 262 total touchdowns and 30,595
total yards are the most by any NFL player through their first seven
seasons in the league.
From a team perspective, Allen holds the top two single-season
passing yards records topped by his 4,544 in 2020 and last season he
passed Kelly for most total touchdowns with 262. Among the
single-season team records he holds are most TD passes (37 in 2020),
most completions (646 in 2021), best completion rate (69.2 percent
in 2020).
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