AFC East Notes: Allen, Van Ginkel, Patriots

This offseason has already seen two mega-deals signed at the quarterback position, and more are expected to follow. The Bills already have their signal-caller on the books, with Josh Allen having signed a six-year, $258MM deal in 2021.

[RELATED: Each Team’s Largest QB Investment]

That deal came not long after the Chiefs inked Patrick Mahomes to his 10-year, $450MM extension, and it represented a measuring stick for talks surrounding Allen and the Bills. To no surprise, the Mahomes deal was a topic of conversation with the Buffalo star due for his own extension.

“He and I talked a little bit about the pros and cons of that [Mahomes] deal and just some broad strokes of it,” Bills GM Brandon Beane said of Allen, via ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry. “And we talked about Tom Brady and the championships he won, and so that’s where it gets tough, because, yes, you want to be fairly compensated and it’s not good for the team to get you on some deal that’s not fair to you… Josh was very adamant about — ‘I’ll work with my people and yes I want to be recognized — there’s a respect thing — but I also [want] to win and I want to be able to keep player X, player Y.”

With Allen on the books through 2028, the Bills’ window for contention should remain open for many years to come. As is the case with his peers, though, Allen’s cap hits are scheduled to become burdensome later on in the deal, ranging between $41.5MM and $56.5MM starting in 2024. It will be interesting to monitor how the team is able to retain other key players once their quarterback begins taking up such a sizeable portion of their available funds.

Here are some other notes from around the AFC East:

• The Bills exited this year’s draft with two new defenders, but none along the defensive front. That was not the plan, however, as noted by The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia (subscription required). Buffalo wanted to add a defensive tackle on either Day 2 or Day 3, given the uncertainty at the position beyond the coming season. Former first-rounder Ed Oliver is entering his walk year, as is fellow starter DaQuan Jones. Adding a rookie to develop behind those two (and potentially replace one of them next year) would have given the team more flexibility, but adding at the position will instead increasingly become a priority in 2024.
• The Dolphins‘ defense faces increased expectations this season given the team’s recent additions on the field and the sidelines. One incumbent member of the unit who could be in line for a rebound in playing time is linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel. The veteran was convinced to remain in South Beach by new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, as detailed by Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Van Ginkel, 27, was set to depart in free agency after seeing his defensive snap share drop from 71% in 2021 to 29% last season. Instead, the former fifth-round pick re-signed on a one-year deal in anticipation of being used in a hybrid role which will see him used both on the inside and outside. A strong season under Fangio will have Van Ginkel well-positioned in free agency next year.
• The Patriots were hit with the loss of some OTA time last week after they were found to have violated the league’s rules on time spent in meetings, but not on-field work. As a result, the league’s fine handed down to Bill Belichick was $50K instead of the maximum $100K, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. The NFL also elected not to fine the organization, likely in large part because the Patriots cooperated in full with the investigation. From the players’ perspective, the most important element of the discipline is the fact that they will not be allowed to work out at the team’s facility during the days in which the violation is served.