We live in a world where Jared Goff makes way more money than Josh Allen

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff signed a four-year, $212 million extension on May 13, 2024, meaning the signal-caller now makes $53 million per year. The contract, which includes $170 million in guarantees, makes Goff the second-highest paid quarterback in the league behind Cincinnati Bengals passer Joe Burrow.

Albert Breer explained what that meant for Tua Tagovailoa, Jordan Love and Brock Purdy in a recent article for Sports Illustrated. He thinks those three could command between $45 million and $50 million per year, the equivalent of Kirk Cousins’ new contract and Goff’s extension.

While it’s great that these players are getting their sacks, what does this mean for upper echelon quarterbacks? What does this mean for Josh Allen?

Allen signed a six-year, $258 million extension in 2021, where he makes $43 million per year. But that $43 million makes him the 10th highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, which doesn’t reflect his consensus status among the league’s top three quarterbacks. Since Allen signed his new contract, he has accumulated:

15,045 total yards and 128 total touchdowns in the regular season alone. Then, in the playoffs, he showed how he could assert his dominance, throwing for 1,968 total yards and 21 total touchdowns. Those are staggering stats, and over that span, only Patrick Mahomes has put up better numbers. Allen has also earned numerous accolades since 2021, such as six AFC Offensive Player of the Week awards, a Pro Bowl selection, and he has been named in the top 15 of the NFL Top 100 every year since 2021.

Allen also broke virtually all of Buffalo’s passing records, whether in the regular season or in play. Allen also became the seventh all-time leading rusher in Bills history.

Jared Goff is a very good quarterback and has had an admirable career resurgence in Detroit. He has become one of the pillars of this new era for the Lions, but he has his limitations… and is simply not on the same level as Josh Allen.

Goff shouldn’t be criticized for signing a massive deal that sees him earn over $50 million per year; the quarterback market has blossomed over the past few seasons and Goff’s contract is in line with what he was expected to make in this bubble. That said, his deal raises an interesting question: How much will the Bills have to spend when Allen seeks a new deal? And when will the agreement arrive?

We’re not going to try to project what the exact numbers will be, but when Allen asks for an extension, it will be a jaw-dropping amount of money.