Bills Restructure Josh Allen Contract, Create Major Cap Space: 'To The Rescue!'
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is already seen as a star-studded hero in Western New York, but he's now giving fans more of a reason to believe it. ... though contrary to what many believe, there is rarely really any "sacrifice'' here.
Per reports from ESPN's Field Yates, the Bills are restructuring Allen's contract to create a whopping $16.7 million in cap space. Buffalo is potentially setting itself up for some future signings, though it's hard to imagine a major splash is coming - because this is really mostly about being cap-compliant come Wednesday, the start of the NFL business year.
"The Bills have restructured the contract of QB Josh Allen, converting much of his 2024 compensation into a signing bonus, creating $16.7M in 2024 cap space. Allen's updated 2024 cap charge is now $30.356M," Yates tweeted.
ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted, "QB to the rescue" after news of the move broke. ... and that's cute. But the fact is, generally speaking, the conversion from base to bonus is a bookkeeping trick. Allen isn't losing money here; he's just allowing the Bills to essentially move his money from his left pocket to his right pocket.
So the alteration is a feature in the contract that is coming "to the rescue.'' It's not Allen himself doing so.
Ask Allen, and he'll likely say that restructuring his current deal is a no-brainer in order to help the Bills keep their Super Bowl window open for longer. ... but of course, in most cases, the team doesn't have to "ask the player'' at all - it simply flips a switch.
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Now, after finishing 2023 as an MVP finalist, Allen's paperwork will give the Bills some room to work toward a Super Bowl appearance that the city and franchise have been desperate for since losing four straight in the mid 90s.