Important points
The Buffalo Bills’ star quarterback is only 30 years old, but he’s already starting to think about life after retirement. Allen told CNBC Sports that he plans to “entertain” a career in broadcasting after the NFL, as many quarterbacks have done before him, including Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Tony Romo and Troy Aikman. Still, Allen didn’t want to commit fully, saying he was concerned about being overly critical if it wasn’t warranted. “I think it would be great if we could keep it strictly from a broadcast standpoint,” Allen said in an interview. “I think that’s where it gets a little fuzzy for me when players go from players to journalists and say things that people used to hate saying about themselves. But I do think it’s something I enjoy. Now I definitely can’t say ‘yes’ or ‘yes.’ I can’t say no, because I’ve gone back and forth on that. But yeah, I’ll have to think about it a little bit more.” Allen’s concerns are somewhat similar to those of another former star quarterback, Joe Montana. He told CNBC Sports earlier this year that he’s not used to broadcasting because the lack of information players and coaches have on the field can cause broadcasters to make unfair decisions. “Coming from the other side, as a player, I’ve seen many times people make judgments about players and what happened on the field, and they didn’t know anything,” Montana said in a February interview. “It’s going to be hard to evaluate our receivers and the quarterbacks that played under Bill (Walsh) because there were a lot of adjustments to our receivers…It was up to the defense. You never know what those are and who misread who was sitting in the box. I didn’t like making those kinds of decisions on players.” Allen is also available for studio shows. This is more removed from play-to-play action, but can force retired players into “hot takes” to get attention. Past quarterbacks like Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Terry Bradshaw and Robert Griffin III have served as studios to add insight before, during and after games and during halftime. In recent years, there have also been opportunities for former NFL quarterbacks to enter the NFL broadcast field with independent projects. Peyton and Eli Manning did an alternate broadcast of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.” Cam Newton has taken on a broader role at ESPN beyond covering the NFL. Dan Orlovsky co-hosts ESPN’s in-season NFL show, NFL Live. Broadcasting could be a lucrative post-playing career for star quarterbacks. In 2022, the New York Post reported that Brady signed a 10-year contract with Fox worth $375 million. Allen has also taken advantage of business opportunities during his playing days. This week he announced a partnership with Natrol, a drug-free sleep aid brand. WATCH: Bills quarterback Josh Allen talks Super Bowl pressure, business and post-play plans.
