Buffalo Bills: What to do with Tyrod Taylor
By Andrew Mills
For the first time in roughly 15 years, the Buffalo Bills have a quarterback to get excited about. Unfortunately he seems destined for a contract dispute with the team in 2016.
The Bills find themselves in an interesting spot when it comes to their starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who signed with the Bills in March of 2015 after four years as the backup to Joe Flacco in Baltimore. He was seen as a player with experience who could provide depth at the position before wowing the Bills coaching staff in the preseason and ultimately winning the starting job.
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Taylor performed well in 2015, playing in 14 games he threw for 3,035 yards, 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions while adding 568 yards and 4 touchdowns running the ball. There are not many Bills observers that would tell you that Taylor is without a doubt the quarterback of the future for the Bills but his play in 2015 leaves most open to the idea. His contract however would suggest otherwise.
Taylor’s three year deal that he signed with the Bills in 2015 turned into at two year deal after playing more than 50% of the snaps at quarterback in 2015. In 2016 he is scheduled to earn just over $1.1 million, the 34th most among NFL quarterbacks and $1.7 million less than now backup, EJ Manuel. Given Taylor’s production in 2015 and the recent contracts signed by middle-of-the-road quarterbacks, it is no surprise that Taylor’s agent has been vocal about his client’s need for a new contract.
Brock Osweiler signed a four year, $72 million deal with the Houston Texans earlier this off season, setting the bar extremely high as he himself has only started seven games in his four year NFL career.
Osweiler will count $12 million against Houston’s salary cap in 2016 according to spotrac.com a figure that the Bills would be unable to fit as they only have roughly $7 million of cap space. Houston, another franchise that has struggled to find a long-term answer at quarterback, decided to take the leap and signed Osweiler to a questionable contract that will further inflate the quarterback market in the NFL.
The Bills, who currently have over 25% of their salary cap dedicated to three players (Marcell Dareus, Stephon Gilmore and Cordy Glenn) have been in what Bills GM Doug Whaley termed “quarterback purgatory” for the last fifteen years or so.
While their quarterback situation has been anything but ideal it has allowed the Bills to buck the trend of dedicating a large percentage of their salary cap to a quarterback instead electing to spread the cap space throughout their entire team.
Taylor is most likely asking for a contract that will pay him around $20 million annually which will most likely mean that the Bills will have to jettison some players to make room.
The Bills, to their credit, seem to be taking their time to make a decision on Taylor. Doug Whaley seems content to let the season play out and see if Taylor continues to develop as a passer. The Bills do ultimately have the leverage as they can place the Franchise Tag on Taylor if they are unable to reach a long term agreement but at some point, you have to worry about Taylor’s attitude and motivation if a long term contract is his desire.
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Just as long as Taylor continues to improve as a passer, he struggled on clear passing downs and throws between the numbers, I’d expect the Bills to be left with no choice but to re-sign him. Buffalo has gone though some very lean years and I can’t see them simply letting their best quarterback since Jim Kelly leave for nothing. But at some point, teams are going to no longer see the value of signing a quarterback who may be slightly above average to a contract that claims 12%-15% of their salary cap space. The Bills are soon going to have to face that reality.