Bills player under most pressure in 2024 NFL season

Quarterback Josh Allen is, by far, the player with the most pressure on the Buffalo Bills entering the 2024 NFL season. Honestly, you could probably say that about most team’s QBs, but this season things are different for Allen. The pressure has gone up to yet another level for the Bills’ franchise signal-caller, and how he reacts will determine his legacy.

Josh Allen is all by himself entering the Bills' 2024 season

Since drafting Josh Allen seventh overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Bills have done a good job of supporting him on the roster. From building a veteran offensive line to trading for Stefon Diggs, general manager Brandon Beane has done his best to support his QB.

Over his six-year career, these moves have paid off for Allen as the former Wyoming star has become one of the best signal-callers in the NFL. Outside of Patrick Mahomes and maybe Joe Burrow, no QB has had as much success — both from an individual and team perspective — than Allen.

The Bills have won four straight AFC East titles and have made the playoffs in the last five seasons. Allen is 63-30 as a starter in the regular season and has five playoff wins.

Putting a strong, veteran team around Allen was possible, in large part, due to the fact that for the last six seasons, the QB was either on his rookie deal or in the early, team-friendly days of his big contract extension. Over the last three seasons, his cap hits were $10.2 million, $16.3 million, and $18.6 million, according to Spotrac. This year that number jumps to $30.3 million and is set to double in 2025.

In the world of the NFL, this is actually a below-market deal, and with the success Allen has already had, he is worth every penny. That said, pro football team building changes dramatically when a franchise moves from a young QB on a rookie contract to a star veteran QB on a top-tier extension.

Since Allen signed his extension three offseasons ago, Beane has done a good job keeping the roster intact thanks to the way the deal is structured and some creative NFL accounting. However, like all borrowed money, the bill eventually comes due.

For the Bills, the salary cap hit the breaking point this offseason.

Buffalo traded Diggs, let fellow wide receiver Gabe Davis walk in free agency, and let longtime veterans like center Mitch Morse and safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde go. So, on the offensive side of the ball this season, the Bills will have a rookie (Sedrick Van Pran-Granger) or natural guard (Connor McGovern) playing center and a rag-tag bunch of unproven youngsters and average (at best) veterans at receiver.

This is the Kansas City Chiefs model. The team has won back-to-back Super Bowls and the best WR they’ve had during that time is JuJu Smith-Schuster. And when the team let him go, they drafted Rashee Rice and won another ring.

The Bills are trying to do just this. They drafted Florida State WR Keon Coleman in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft and added him to a receiver room that includes Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, Justin Shorter, Chase Claypool, Mack Hollins, KJ Hamler, and even former Chiefs pass-catcher Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

So, the Bills are now built in the Chiefs' image. They just need one more small thing: For Josh Allen to turn into Patrick Mahomes.

That is the secret sauce that makes the Chiefs click. They splurge in a few places and piece together the rest because they have a quarterback who can elevate everyone around him and who comes up biggest in the biggest moments. And that’s easier said than done. Mahomes is currently on pace to become one of (if not) the greatest QB in NFL history and it’s yet to be proven that anything less can win with this type of team makeup.

That’s why Allen has the most pressure on him than any other Bill, and frankly as much, if not more, than any quarterback in the NFL. For Buffalo to win, to conquer the AFC East again, to get back to the playoffs, and to finally dethrone the Chiefs, it will take no less than an MVP-level performance this year from Allen.

Allen has been good, and at times great, throughout his career, but has precious few honors to show for it thanks to Mahomes, Burrow, and others. The Bills QB has made just two Pro Bowl appearances and one second-team All-Pro squad in his six seasons. He’s finished second, third, and fifth in NFL MVP voting, but never claimed the top spot.

In 2024, the pressure is on Josh Allen to be the best quarterback in the league. Not the second or third best — we’ve seen that show before and know how it ends for the Bills — but the best in the league. That is the only way Buffalo gets to and maybe even wins a Super Bowl this season.

Is demanding an MVP season from Allen fair? Probably not. There is nothing wrong with simply being one of the best QBs in the league. But if the Bills hope to achieve or surpass the success they’ve had in recent years, it will be fully on the back of Allen.

And more than just winning, Allen has the likely pressure of trying to save his coach’s job. After seven solid seasons and an excellent 73-41 record, Sean McDermott is under pressure, too, although the only thing that can save him is Josh Allen carrying the team to wins.

If Buffalo loses the AFC East, doesn’t make the playoffs, or even if they fall to the Chiefs in the postseason yet again, there is a good chance that McDermott will lose his job. That would make seven seasons of Allen’s career without so much as a Super Bowl appearance, and especially the way Allen runs on the field, he’ll be lucky to get another seven. Buffalo can’t afford to squander more seasons of their superstar QB’s time in the NFL, so a change should be made.

And it all comes down to Allen taking the next step in his career. Now, that’s pressure.