Josh Allen has high hopes of signing a new contract at Buffalo Bills, saying: "It's a place that I call home. I love being there. I love the fan base. I love the city"; the 24-year-old is keen to avoid the franchise tag with the Bills holding a fifth-year option for 2022
Wednesday 7 April 2021 20:53, UK
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen says he hopes to avoid the dreaded franchise tag in the hope of tying down a long-term deal at Highmark Stadium.
Allen, 24, is one of the next young quarterbacks in line for a massive payday after leading the Bills to the playoffs two straight seasons.
The seventh pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Allen is guaranteed $3.36m in base salary for 2021. By comparison, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott's new deal has an average annual salary of $40m.
Buffalo hold a fifth-year option for 2022 but Allen does hope to avoid one outcome - the franchise tag.
"I don't think it's great for the team, nor the player," Allen told NFL Network. "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.
"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 led Buffalo (13-3) to its first AFC East title since 1995 last season while breaking the franchise's single-season records for passing yards (4,544) and touchdown passes (37).
He remains content to let his agent and Bills general manager Brandon Beane bang out the deal as he looks to extend his stay in Buffalo.
"I want to listen and be engaged in the contract talks," Allen said. "Ultimately that's why you pay your agents, and that's why you hire a guy like Brandon Beane and [assistant GM] Joe Schoen, and the front office guys and what they do.
"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. 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."
For updates on the Draft, be sure to follow along at skysports.com/nfl and on Twitter @SkySportsNFL.
