The Buffalo Bills announced on Monday that the team had picked up the fifth-year options on the rookie contracts of quarterback Josh Allen and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.
Allen and Edmunds were previously still under contract for the 2021 season, but the option has to do with the 2022 campaign. As former first-round picks, both players have that final year option tabbed on their contracts. Players selected in rounds 2-7 in the draft do not.
Previously, Bills general manager Brandon Beane expressed an interest in avoiding the option in hopes of getting both players under long-term deals instead of having to flex the options. As the offseason continues, extending such deals to the players to cancel out the options will be a storyline to follow.
Beane will likely want their contracts to match the recent drop in the salary cap so the team can better manage the cap until it goes back up, post-pandemic. Allen’s option will cost the Bills $23.016 million while Edmunds’ falls at $12.791M. That total is based on position combined with other achievements on the field such as Pro Bowls.
Allen and Edmunds were selected in the first round of the 2018 draft by the Bills at picks No. 7 and 16, respectively.
The deadline for the Bills to pick up the options was Monday.
[lawrence-related id=81704,81617,81672,81673]