The Buffalo Bills have agreed to terms on a six-year contract extension with quarterback Josh Allen, the team announced Friday afternoon. The deal ties the signal-caller to the organization through the 2028 NFL season.

The mega-deal is worth $258 million, including $150 million in guarantees, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The contract won’t officially kick in until after the 2022 season, as Allen still has two years remaining on his rookie contract (with a $6.9 million cap hit in 2021, and a $23 million cap hit in 2022, according to Spotrac). Once his new contract kicks in, Allen will earn an average salary of $43 million.

Though this likely won’t be the case when contract term commences, Allen currently stands to be the second-highest paid quarterback in the NFL. The only quarterback currently making more than $43 million per season is Kansas City passer Patrick Mahomes, who inked a 10-year, $450 million deal with the Chiefs last offseason.

Allen’s new deal does best Mahomes’ in one category, however – guarantees. Allen’s new deal contains the most guaranteed money of any contract in the NFL, besting Mahomes’ guarantees by $9 million.

Though neither side seemed particularly worried, the clock on a potential Allen extension was quickly ticking. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane recently told reporters that any extension talk would be punted to next offseason if a deal could not be reached by Week 1. Again, Allen was not concerned, describing a new deal as “the least of [his] worries” at the start of training camp.

He’s worrying even less now.

Allen’s the first quarterback from the 2018 draft class to ink a second deal. Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson undoubtedly met Friday’s news with some excitement.

The extension only confirms something that Bills fans have long known – Allen is the team’s franchise quarterback. The progression seen in Allen’s game has been unprecedented and, frankly, unexpected; yes, the talented, but unrefined quarterback who was jumping over linebackers and completing just 52% of his passes as a rookie is the same player who totaled 45 touchdowns and finished second in MVP voting last season.

And by committing to him for the next eight years, Buffalo’s brass has shown that it expects Allen to take even more strides.

Is it realistic to expect Allen to consistently improve off a 4,500-yard season in which he completed 69 percent of his passes? That remains to be seen, but he hasn’t shown any signs of regression.

Allen’s new deal is the largest in Buffalo sports history, and it’s hard to imagine that any (local) contract will top it at any point in the near future.

After being drafted by the Bills in 2018, Allen said that he hoped to make Buffalo his home for “the next 15-plus years.” With his new contract, he’s more than half-way there.