The Facts: No quarterback in recent memory has turned his game around as swiftly as Allen. He isn't just a rising star. He's the reason players like LB Matt Milano took less money to return to Buffalo rather than check out free agency. The QB is the reason veterans like Emmanuel Sanders chose to play in Buffalo over other suitors. Now, the Bills need to lock down their QB for the long haul. GM Brandon Beane said on Thursday the goal is to get a deal done sooner rather than later. "It helps you for your planning the sooner you can get that contract done," Beane said.

Diehards Line: The GM continued: "Again, I hope that we can get him done, if not this year, next year. You don't want to get into the franchise (tag) and all that stuff. It's a tool that you use if you have to to keep a great player, but at the end of the day, we want Josh here for the long term. We want him to be happy, and obviously, we want it to be a deal where we can still put talented players around him because Josh is a competitor. ... So we'll try and find that deal that works for him and works for us." The 2018 No. 7 overall pick, Allen is entering the fourth year of his rookie contract, a period when many young signal-callers sign a massive contract extension. If a deal isn't done this offseason, the Bills would exercise the fifth-year option on Allen. In the end, Allen wants to stay in Buffalo, a city that has championed him, and the Bills want the strong-armed QB to be their face for the long term. At some point, a deal should get done that makes it a reality.