Fresh off signing a $60.2 million extension with the Buffalo Bills, wide receiver Khalil Shakir still checks the price of a can of soda before he buys it.
“I think it was just something that my parents instilled in me at a young age,” Shakir, 25, tells NewsPlop exclusively as part of his new partnership with Kelley Blue Book. “You think about how you want your life to look, you know, 10, 20 years from now, and I have the rare opportunity of being blessed to be able to play football, and be able to have this type of money now.”
Though he admits he’s not a big spender, the former Boise State Bronco did buy a house in Buffalo after signing the extension, going from apartment life to a home with a yard for his dogs to play in. The timing was also right because he and his wife, Sayler, welcomed their first child, daughter Sunny, in November.
“No matter what the price is, for me, spending money on something, it can be a soda or it can be a house,” he said, “No matter what that price is, I just am against seeing the number go down in my account.”
“[I’m] just kind of a weirdo like that,” Shakir added.
NFL Families Get Real About the Cost of Football: Uniforms, Fines and More
Shakir is in the midst of his fourth NFL season — one that again has the Bills pacing toward the playoffs — but family remains at the center of everything he does. In the immediate term, that means he’s thinking of Sunny “90 percent of the time” he is at work, constantly finding himself scrolling through his camera roll, which is filled with pictures of the newborn.
Longer term, that means being particular about how he spends. The new house could be viewed as an extravagance, but he doesn’t see it that way.
“[I’m] thinking about a house not just being money gone,” he said. “Thinking about it as an investment is something that makes me feel a lot better.”
This was the right time for him to buy a house, and not just because of the massive payday. He has committed to staying with the Bills, the only professional team he’s ever known. Just about any pro athlete will heap praise on their team’s fans, and Shakir doesn’t hesitate to do so. Bills Mafia is known for being one of the most intense fanbases in the NFL, and he has lived that for four years.
Buffalo Bills’ Dalton Kincaid Talks Josh Allen’s ‘Aura’ Ahead of 2025 Season
“Everyone here will throw on a helmet and shoulder pads, fresh out of the stands and step onto that field if they have to,” he said. “So you have a fan base that truly, truly cares about every single individual on this team, and their love and support is unreal, as well as just everybody inside the building, the staff, obviously, my teammates, just first class human beings.”
His teammates will, however, still tease him for driving his 2021 Subaru — another one of those smart financial decisions he prides himself on, which made him a logical fit to partner with Kelley Blue Book.
“They pretty much create a whole playbook for you to make sure that you make an informed decision before you buy something,” he said of the vehicle valuation company.
Shakir added, “Making smart, financial, informed decisions is something that I truly, truly care about, and I think there’s nothing better than having a partnership [where] their values and everything that they do [are] my core values in my own individual lifestyle.”