Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has signed a contract extension worth a staggering 59 million US dollars over six years.
The deal is a significant raise over the 3.22 million-dollar base salary he was making this season.
Fitzpatrick was in the final year of the three-year contract he signed upon joining the Bills as a free agent in 2009.
He has completed 516-of-870 passes for 5,899 yards and 44 touchdowns in 29 games for Buffalo.
In 2010, he recorded the first 3,000 passing yard season of his NFL career on 255-of-441 passing with 23 touchdowns in 13 starts.
It s been a long road. There s been a lot of hurdles and obstacles that I ve had to overcome, Fitzpatrick said.
I think we ve got this thing headed in the right direction. So to be a part of that, and to be able to continue to be a part of that for years to come, I m really excited about it.
Fitzpatrick becomes the first starting quarterback since Doug Flutie in 1999 to earn a contract extension with Buffalo.
I m excited about Ryan getting this done. He ll be our quarterback for a long time, general manager Buddy Nix said, who said the key to any team s success depends on having a quarterback in place.
It really makes everything easier for us. It s easy to put good players around him if you ve got that position that you feel good about. And we do.
Buffalo, who have surprised with their revived offense that has produced a 4-2 start this season, have spent much of the past 15 years searching for a quarterback.
