State of the Bills roster: Quarterbacks

It’s good to have a great one

The Buffalo Bills are blessed to have one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks. That’s clearly a harbinger of success, and it’s a large part of the reason why the team is 73-41 in the regular season over the course of head coach Sean McDermott’s tenure. It also means that, regardless of the pundits and their narratives, a championship window is always open as long as the Bills have a franchise quarterback.

Given that the team, its fans, and anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of football knows what the Bills are going to do at quarterback, this might be the most anticlimactic of our state of the roster pieces. Everyone knows that Josh Allen is elite, and everyone knows that he’s going to start each and every game he’s able to suit up for. We also know that the Bills are quite likely to restructure his current contract so as to knock down Allen’s massive salary cap number, which will help the team to add pieces to continue their pursuit of that elusive championship.

So, without further adieu, here’s our look at the quarterback position for the Buffalo Bills as we enter the 2024 NFL season.

Josh Allen

Contract status for 2024: Signed; second year of six-year contract ($47,056,281 cap hit; $99,152,843 dead-cap hit if released (around $55 million if traded); 18.4% of total team cap

Age: 27 (28 on 5/21/2024)

Playing time: 17 games (17 starts), 1,126 offensive snaps (96.7% of team total)

Key statistics: 385-of-579 passing (66.5% completion rate), 29 passing touchdowns, 18 interceptions, 2 fourth-quarter comebacks, 4 game-winning drives, 92.2 quarterback rating, 69.6 QBR, 111 rushes, 524 rushing yards, 15 rushing touchdowns, 7 fumbles

Allen had a “down year” in some ways statistically, yet he still managed the second-highest completion rate of his career, his fourth-straight 4,000-yard passing season, and his third top-five finish in MVP voting. He also threw more interceptions than anyone other than Sam Howell and had more rushing touchdowns than anyone other than Raheem Mostert and Jalen Hurts. Allen had over 100 rushing attempts for the fourth-straight year, as well.

Finding a field-stretching weapon early in the 2024 NFL Draft could make an already incredible player even more dangerous, especially if that wideout has elite size and speed. Troy Franklin or Brian Thomas Jr. are my favorites, but if the Bills can add a vertical threat to complement Stefon Diggs, Dalton Kincaid, and Khalil Shakir, then look out. Tales of Allen’s demise are vastly overblown, and a full year in offensive coordinator Joe Brady’s system should lead to continued success for Buffalo’s franchise quarterback.

Kyle Allen

Contract status for 2024: Unsigned; UFA

Age: 27 (28 on 3/8/2024)

Playing time: 7 games, 38 offensive snaps (3.3% of team total)

Key statistics: 13 rushing attempts, -13 rushing yards

Allen played some in garbage time as a designated hand-off specialist when the Bills wanted to ensure the health of the other Allen. He continued the tradition of nice guys with low career ceilings who can hold the clipboard and hang out with No. 17 in the film room.

Shane Buechele

Contract status for 2024: Signed reserve/futures contract on 1/24/2022 ($1.025 million cap hit; $40,000 dead-cap charge if released or traded; .4% of total team cap)

Age: 26 (27 on 1/8/2025)

Playing time: N/A

Key statistics: N/A

Buechele began his professional career with the Kansas City Chiefs, but he was waived by the eventual Super Bowl champs at the end of the preseason. Buffalo signed him to their practice squad on August 31, which is where he remained for the duration of the season. He was a productive player in college, passing for 11,660 yards with 87 touchdowns and 32 interceptions over 46 NCAA games and 1,508 passing attempts split between his time with the Texas Longhorns and the SMU Mustangs.

To paraphrase former Indianapolis Colts offensive guru Tom Moore in a way that won’t violate community guidelines, if 17 goes down, the Bills are in trouble regardless of who the backup is — and there’s not much sense in practicing “in trouble.” Buffalo has one of the two best quarterbacks in football. There’s not much to do here other than make sure that they have a player capable of stepping in if he were to miss a short amount of time to keep the Bills’ passing offense competitive.

Buechele is an interesting camp arm, and while I think the Bills need to add someone else here, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to see what he can do during the preseason. There have been some dots connected to former Buffalo backup Mitchell Trubisky, but I think it’s more likely that he ends up in East Rutherford, NJ with Brian Daboll and the New York Giants than it is that he returns to the Bills. Sam Darnold has long been someone I’d love to see as Allen’s backup, but after doing some good work in spot duty with the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers over the last two seasons, he may have priced himself out of being Allen’s latest friend-slash-backup quarterback.

It’s not unlikely that the Bills retain Kyle Allen, either. While the Bills certainly could do worse than keeping him around, they could also do better — so I think they should at least kick the tires on some other players before settling on the lesser Allen. Matt Barkley is always a possibility, but see the above commentary about Kyle Allen for my thoughts there, as well.

Buffalo could also look to draft a player late if they’re interested in developing a young quarterback to dangle as trade bait, but with needs all over the field and limited funds, it feels like a pick anywhere before the fifth round would best be used elsewhere. Someone like Sam Hartman out of Notre Dame would be a fine roll of the dice, and if a quality prospect like Florida State’s Jordan Travis plummets thanks to his season-ending leg injury, maybe the Bills can’t pass him up due to their draft board.

However, if I’m the Bills, I’m playing this offseason similarly to the same way they’ve played it over the last few years. Add a veteran backup who can win a game or two if Allen misses time, consider adding another camp arm via the undrafted free-agent route, and continue reveling in the fact that Joshua Patrick Allen sits atop the depth chart.