NFL analyst questions Bills decision of signing Josh Allen to $330,000,000 contract extension

Josh Allen is coming off of the best individual season of his career so far that resulted in him winning his first NFL MVP award. The Buffalo Bills rewarded him for his impressive efforts by giving him a $330 million contract extension with $250 million in guaranteed money, the most by any NFL player ever.

While Allen clearly deserves to be among the highest-paid quarterbacks, the timing of the extension was a bit surprising, considering he still had years left on his current contract. Craig Carton questioned the Bills' strategy to do so during an episode of Breakfast Ball on Monday.

Carton said:

"He's under contract at a huge number and I'm just trying to figure out, what do the Bills gain? Because it's not cap space this year, I did the numbers, he's at a $40+ million hit against the cap this year. So why did they need to give Josh Allen more money now? And there's no answers.

"Every year someone else makes more money. So we got to go back to Josh now and go, 'We know you're not the third highest paid guy anymore, we want to make sure you are'?

Carton added:

"He was under contract for four more years, and they get zero cap relief by doing this deal, so there's no upside. The Bills didn't get better yesterday, the downside is less money to spend on other talent."

Josh Allen may have won the MVP award last year, but suffered a similar fate in the playoffs, once again being defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs and coming up short of a Super Bowl appearance. They have been eliminated by the Chiefs in the postseason in four of the past five years.

Craig Carton basically explained that the Bills giving Allen a new contract didn't do anything to help them get over the hump, but rather hurt them even further by decreasing their salary cap flexibility.

Regardless, the quarterback now ranks among the highest-paid players ever by several measures, so the Bills are hoping their investment pays off with a ring eventually.

Where Josh Allen ranks among highest-paid NFL players

Josh Allen

Josh Allen placed himself among the highest-paid players in NFL history with his massive new contract with the Buffalo Bills. His $330 million in total money ranks second to just Patrick Mahomes, who signed a $450 million contract with the Chiefs.

Where Allen set a new NFL record was in the guaranteed portion of his contract as his $250 million is the most ever for any player. This surpasses Dak Prescott, who received $231 million in guaranteed money from the Dallas Cowboys last year.

Prescott still leads the way with $60 million in AAV, but Allen's deal comes in second place on that list as well.