In 2021, the Buffalo Bills signed quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to a one-year contract to be Josh Allen’s backup.
From there, the team then traded for Case Keenum to take hold of that title in 2022 before settling on Kyle Allen in 2023, and then jumping back to Trubisky for 2024 and 2025.
It’s been nothing but a carousel behind Buffalo’s MVP . . . and that merry-go-round will continue next season as it was reported late Monday evening that the Bills will be bringing Allen — Kyle, that is — back into the fold for 2026 and possibly beyond, inking the former 2018 undrafted free agent to a two-year, $4.1 million deal that can max out at a value of $6.1 million.
Entering his ninth season after previous stops in Carolina, Washington, Houston, Pittsburgh, and Detroit, which is where Allen spent 2025 backing up Lions’ starting quarterback Jared Goff, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Scottsdale, Arizona, native has appeared in 34 games in his career thus far — starting 19 of them — and has completed 442-of-707 passes for 4,753 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions, while adding 159 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns on 68 attempts.
The move doesn’t necessarily preclude Buffalo from taking a flier on a late-round or undrafted quarterback for competition later on in April, but nevertheless the signing provides their franchise quarterback with a known commodity behind him on the bench.
In other news, it was also reported on Monday that the Bills re-signed punter Mitch Wishnowsky to a one-year deal, bringing the veteran specialist back into the fold for 2026 after initially signing the Australian native to a contract at the end of September to replace fellow punter Cameron Johnston last season, who suffered an injury in Week 4 against the New Orleans Saints.
A 2016 Ray Guy award winner — an honor given to the nation’s top punter — while in his first season at the University of Utah, Wishnowsky went on to play for three seasons with the Utes before becoming a fourth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder spent the first six years of his career in San Francisco before joining Buffalo last season, appearing in 95 games — regular season and playoffs combined — from 2019 to 2023 for the 49ers before appearing in just nine games in 2024 due to a back injury that put him on injured reserve in Week 10 and ultimately kept him there for the remainder of that season.
He was released in May of 2025 and eventually signed onto the Washington Commanders’ practice squad for a very brief stint early on last season before ultimately landing on his feet in Orchard Park.
In his seven years, the former longtime 49er has a career average of 45.5 yards per punt with a career long of 74 yards, which came back in 2022.
Since joining the Bills in Week 5 of last season, Wishnowsky’s punts were returned just 28.9 percent of the time — the third-lowest amount in the NFL in 2025 — and he had an average hang time of 4.44 seconds, which ranked ninth best in the league. Buffalo also allowed just 6.3 yards per return on his punts last season, which was good for fourth best in the NFL.
Much like the deal for Allen, the short-term pact with Wishnowsky shouldn’t and probably won’t stop the Bills from bringing in another punter this offseason, whether that be another veteran, an addition late in the draft, or an undrafted signing.
Regardless, a move was needed to at least get a body at the position moving forward, and Buffalo could do a lot worse than Wishnowsky.
As always, stay glued to the Buffalo Fambase blog for any and all updates regarding the Buffalo Bills and their offseason happenings.
Editor’s babble: And, as always, many thanks to John Green for his contributions to our blog. You can also find John on X @JGreen_PRsports.
BuffaloFAMbase.com is sponsored by 26 Shirts
Every Monday, we launch a two-week campaign of a new Buffalo-themed t-shirt design. Every purchase results in a donation to a local family in need. After the campaign ends, the shirt is typically retired. A new design is released, and a new family benefits from your fandom!
