Jonathan Allen is outperforming his contract extension

Just before players reported for training camp, Jonathan Allen inked a 4-year, $72M extension with the Washington Football Team. Through nine games, he has lived up to the extension and then some.

Up until 2021, Allen had quietly had been growing into a bonafide stud. The basic up-front stats never did him justice. Well, this year they are for the Washington Football Team defensive lineman.

A contract that had an AAV of $18 million following a two-sack season could seem like an overpay. Many at the time thought it was fair market value. Well, simply put, Jonathan Allen is on his way to outperforming his contract.

Within a few years, his deal could look like a bargain. Jonathan Allen is living up to his contract and more for Washington. He has quickly become a cornerstone of the franchise.

Jonathan Allen is mailing in an All-Pro caliber season for the Washington Football Team

The above tweet speaks for itself. Jonathan Allen is a flat-out star. Halfway through the season and he is well on pace to tab 74 pressures. That is about 4.35 pressures a game. He has been an absolute game wrecker. Plain and simple.

The box score counting stats speak favorably of Jonathan Allen, as well. Through nine games, he has six sacks, eight tackles for loss, and 20 quarterback hits. His career highs in those three categories, according to Pro Football Reference, are eight sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and, well, his 20 quarterback hits are already a career-high!

The former first-round pick is on pace to shatter each of the remaining two statistics as well. He also has 10 quarterback knockdowns, one shy of his career-high of 11. Again, we are only halfway through the season.

The deeper you dive into the stats, the more it becomes evident that Jonathan Allen has been a freak this year. And it becomes even more impressive that he has done this on a defense that has performed as poorly as it has.

To put more perspective on Allen’s All-Pro charge, he currently owns a 91.1 pass-rush grade from Pro Football Focus. That ranks second amongst DTs behind Aaron Donald, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. In regard to edge rushers, only Maxx Crosby (92.7), Myles Garrett (92.6) have better marks than Allen.

Allen has been the bright spot on a disappointing defense, which, to its credit, has improved over the last month of action.

Nonetheless, Allen has been a problem for every opposing offense. Washington certainly did the right thing getting his contract locked up when they did. If they had not, his demands would have rightfully increased … with Terry McLaurin due for a top-of-the-market extension in the near future.

Imagine having to nail down two stars to big-money extensions in one offseason? Let’s just say a big headache was avoided.

For as much as many like to rag on Washington for the things they miss, they deserve credit here. They hit a home run with this contract, for a cornerstone piece of the franchise. Jonathan Allen is one of the league’s best interior defensive linemen, and luckily for Washington, he will be in the DMV for a very long time.