Matt Barkley was the unlikeliest of heroes for the Buffalo Bills, arriving off the street for a team in dire injury straits at quarterback. Between injuries to rookie Josh Allen, second-year Nate Peterman, and veteran Derek Anderson, Barkley was asked to hold down the fort on the league’s worst offense for a week. He blew away expectations, leading the Bills to a 41-10 rout of the New York Jets before settling in as the primary backup when Allen recovered from an elbow injury.
Now he’ll be taking an extended stay in Buffalo. The Bills announced on Friday that they’ve signed Barkley to a two-year contract extension that will keep him on the roster through 2020. This is a win-win for both sides. Barkley, who spent the 2017 season either out of football or as a healthy scratch, successfully parlayed his spot start into a longer-term contract. Buffalo locks up an experienced quarterback who can pair up with Allen in the locker room and mentor him through the next couple years of development.
At this time, the details of the contract are not known. The other quarterback on the roster, Derek Anderson, is signed to a one year deal that expires after this season. He was a healthy scratch last week in his first return from a concussion that sidelined him nearly two months of the season.