The Buffalo Bills have rarely had to worry about life without quarterback Josh Allen. Since his rookie season, Allen has not missed a start because of injury and currently holds the longest active starting streak among quarterbacks at 122 games. However, when he has been unavailable in the past, Buffalo has struggled badly, posting just a 25% win rate. Because of that concern, new head coach Joe Brady recently moved to solidify the backup quarterback position by bringing in one of Allen’s closest friends.

“Former Lions QB Kyle Allen is signing a two-year, $4.1 million deal worth up to $6.1 million with the Buffalo Bills, where he will reunite with his close friend Josh Allen,” insider Adam Schefter wrote on X.

The Bills need a new backup, as Mitchell Trubisky, who previously handled that role in 2021 and again during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, agreed to a two-year contract with the Tennessee Titans.

Kyle Allen is already familiar with Highmark Stadium after serving as Josh Allen’s backup during the 2023 season. After that stint, he spent 2025 behind Jared Goff in Detroit following a year as a reserve with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Beyond the professional connection, the two quarterbacks share a strong personal bond. The two quarterbacks share a strong personal bond, having trained together under coach Jordan Palmer since before the 2018 NFL Draft. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the friendship grew even stronger when the two quarterbacks quarantined together while continuing their offseason training.

Now, several years later, Josh Allen and Kyle Allen find themselves sharing the same quarterback room again.

Over the course of his career, Kyle Allen has taken a winding path through the league. He has appeared for six different teams across eight seasons, including the Bills, Panthers, Texans, Commanders, Steelers, and Lions. Statistically, he has completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 4,753 yards with 26 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.

So it’s a good move by Joe Brady to stabilize the quarterback depth chart, but Buffalo just faced an early setback tied to its pre-draft planning.

Joe Brady and the Buffalo Bills miss out on compensatory picks

Earlier this week, the NFL confirmed that 33 compensatory selections will be distributed to 15 teams in the 2026 NFL Draft, which takes place April 23 to 25 in Pittsburgh. However, the Buffalo Bills were not awarded any compensatory picks. Still, that result did not come as a shock for head coach Joe Brady and the front office.

To understand why, let’s look at how the league calculates those extra picks. Every year, the NFL awards compensatory selections to teams that lose more qualifying free agents than they sign during the previous offseason. Those picks always appear at the ends of Rounds 3 through 7. More importantly, only unrestricted free agents factor into the league’s formula when the compensatory totals are calculated.

At the same time, several other transactions do not affect the system at all. Players who get released before signing elsewhere do not count, and neither do restricted free agents who go unsigned after a tender decision.

For example, the Bills lost wide receiver Mack Hollins last March when he signed with the New England Patriots, which initially placed Buffalo in line for a late Round 6 compensatory pick. But that potential pick quickly disappeared once the Bills made their own move in free agency. Buffalo signed wide receiver Joshua Palmer to a deal worth about $10 million per year, and his contract fell into the same compensatory category as Hollins.

As a result, Palmer’s signing immediately canceled out the potential pick gained from Hollins’ departure.

Then the Bills added defensive end Michael Hoecht on a contract averaging $7 million per year, which also qualified as a Round 6 offset. Then the team brought back cornerback Tre’Davious White on a deal worth roughly $4 million annually, classified as a Round 7 offset.

Now, with no extra selections coming their way, Bills Mafia will be watching closely to see how the team adjusts its rebuild heading into draft weekend.