There’s been a lot of virtual ink spilled about Josh Allen winning the 2024 NFL MVP already, because it came with such surprising and controversial fashion, with Allen losing out on First Team All-Pro to Lamar Jackson but beating out the Baltimore quarterback in the MVP voting, something that’s only happened three times in NFL history.
We’ll probably keep rehashing the why of what went down for a while, but let’s not forget to focus on the other added benefit of the MVP selection for Allen: he just got a free wedding out of the deal.
To be more specific: Allen’s MVP selection triggered a clause in his contract that awards him a $1.5 million bonus, which is a really nice little added payday for an award the Bills quarterback was already excited about bringing home.
Allen would almost certainly hand back the $1.5 million and tack on any other amount necessary to flip places with Patrick Mahomes and be preparing to play in the Super Bowl Sunday, so winning the MVP likely feels like a phyrric victory at absolute best.
But he was also in a situation where it looked like he was going to be sitting at home, watching the Super Bowl while not playing in it and additionally expecting to lose the MVP race to Jackson as well.
So that’s nice.
Ravens legend and Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden says Bills’ Josh Allen won MVP for the ‘wrong reason’
And let’s not forget, Allen’s got a splashy wedding to handle this offseason, having gotten engaged to girlfriend Hailee Steinfeld during the season.
One could even argue Allen’s play during the season got a bump following the late November engagement. He posted an absolutely absurd 18 total touchdowns in the five games (he skipped Week 18) after getting engaged and promptly leapfrogged the field as the MVP favorite before ultimately winning the award on Thursday night.
Not playing in the Super Bowl is obviously a bummer, but an MVP trophy and a fat contractual award is a pretty solid bonus, especially with a big-time expense coming down the pipe. We’re a silver lining operation around here.
