The Buffalo Bills have picked up the fifth-year options for both quarterback Josh Allen and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. Allen was a no-brainer while it was a little more up in the air if Buffalo would commit that much money to Edmunds.
Because they both have one Pro Bowl on the first ballot, the cost of the fifth-year option for both of them went up. The basic fifth-year option is an average of the third to 25th-highest paid players at the position over the last five years. There are playing-time incentives that bring it up to the averaged of third through 20th at the position. Next, there are escalators for one Pro Bowl and then another for multiple Pro Bowls on the first ballot. One Pro Bowl means that both players will earn the equivalent of the transition tag in 2022. (Multiple Pro Bowls would have escalated it further to the franchise tag number.)
For Allen, that means a one-year guaranteed salary of $23.1 million in 2022. Edmunds will make $12.791 million in 2022.
This won’t preclude the Bills from working on long-term deals with either player. They can sign those at any point in time.
Unlike most teams, the Bills worked it all the way down to the wire, announcing their decision on deadline day.