Josh Allen’s name keeps landing at the top of every serious quarterback conversation, and the latest league-wide poll only drives that home. Jeremy Fowler’s rankings, built from the opinions of executives, coaches and scouts, put Allen first among quarterbacks heading into the 2026 season. That’s a strong statement in a league that still has Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and a healthy Joe Burrow in the mix, but the message from the poll is clear: Allen sits above the rest right now.
That standing makes sense when you look at what he’s done for Buffalo. The Bills have been a powerhouse since the 2020 season, and Allen is the reason that run exists.
His first two seasons came with plenty of bumps, but the talent was always there. Then 2020 arrived, everything snapped into place, and he quickly climbed into the league’s elite tier.
What makes Allen so difficult to replace is the full package. He can drive the ball downfield in cold weather, create chunk plays with his legs, and even find the end zone as a receiver on occasion. That kind of versatility gives Buffalo an edge that few teams can match.
From 2020-2023, Allen had Stefon Diggs as his No. 1 target, and the pairing was lethal at times. But after the Bills traded Diggs in 2024 to the Houston Texans, the next two seasons offered a different kind of proof: Allen could still carry the offense without a true go-to receiver. He won MVP in 2024, posted 6 total touchdowns in multiple games, and repeatedly put the team on his back when the pressure was highest.
The production has been outrageous for years. Allen scored 40-plus total touchdowns in every season from 2020-2024, then followed that with 39 total touchdowns last season. That’s the kind of consistency that separates stars from the truly rare ones.
And if anyone needed another reminder of how hard it would be to pry him away from Buffalo, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell provided it. In a piece projecting which players on each team would be worth a first-round pick, Barnwell pegged Allen’s trade value at seven first-round picks.
" QB Josh Allen. Let's start with the most significant and impossible valuation in the league.
Allen, who just finished atop Jeremy Fowler's poll of league executives as the league's best quarterback, has been a superstar for the Bills over the past six seasons. He has done it without anything resembling an elite receiver, all while adding significant value with his legs on scrambles and designed runs." said Barnwell.
" Having just signed a new contract a year ago, Allen isn't going anywhere anytime soon. If he did suddenly hit the trade market, though?
Teams would be competing against each other to acquire enough first-round picks to satisfy Buffalo's demands for what would be a historic deal." Barnwell added.
That kind of price is almost impossible to wrap your head around. One first-round pick is a major asset.
Two is already a serious haul. Seven would be the sort of trade that shakes the entire league.
Big-name players do move, and the source points to last month’s deal that sent Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns to the Los Angeles Rams, with a first-round pick and young edge rusher Jared Verse going back in the deal. Allen’s valuation, though, lives in a different universe.
The good news for Buffalo is that Allen wants to stay put, and he’s deeply embraced by the Western New York community. So while the trade number is staggering, it’s mostly a reminder of how valuable he is, not a sign that he’s headed anywhere. As long as he keeps playing at this level, the Bills’ Super Bowl window stays wide open.
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The challenge is just as clear. Skinner is one of 14 receivers on the roster, and that kind of crowd usually means a player spends most of his time working behind the top groups while trying to carve out a niche wherever he can. For Buffalo, the appeal is obvious if he can translate that deep-threat ability into something more dependable, but his route to the 53-man roster still feels like one of the more difficult ones to sort out. [Read more 🡒]