49ers: Josh Allen extension with Bills justifies San Francisco’s QB plans

How does it impact the 49ers?

The reason this matters to the 49ers is two-fold.

The first is fairly obvious. Rookie scale contracts continue to be the greatest value in all of football, especially if a team can grab a quarterback with it. While getting established talent never hurts, choosing a rookie with upside can allow a team a much greater opportunity to build around them.

Josh Allen will take up 20 percent of the Bills’ cap space next year. Trey Lance, per AAV, will take up 3.8 percent.

San Francisco 49ers

That’s a considerable difference, one that could, especially if Lance progresses like training camp reports seem to indicate he will, make up whatever talent disparity exists between Allen and Lance.

It’s early, and it’s a gamble, but this sheer monetary difference is an example of the flexibility the 49ers got by entering the rookie gamble.

The second impact regards Jimmy Garoppolo.

Is Garoppolo overpaid for what he does? Probably. But as the stark and constant increase of contracts indicates, his contract only continues to grow more and more reasonable, and more and more valuable. Add on the immense flexibility built into it by Paraag Marathe of the 49ers front office, and the Garoppolo contract soon looks like a valuable trade chip.

Instead of a release, the Niners can potentially take advantage of a rising market to offer a now-cheap alternative.

All in all, the Allen contract extension justifies San Francisco’s approach to the quarterback room this year. The Niners got a player who allows them to avoid the exponential growth of the market immediately, and they kept a player whose contract begins to look more and more like a bargain.

In this time where quarterbacks rule the NFL, the 49ers have set themselves up to have the best of both worlds.