No player, especially a quarterback, likes to be a sitting duck. Similarly, no team wants to commit big money to a player who doesn't deserve it. In that sense, both the Buffalo Bills and quarterback Tyrod Taylor are justified with digging their heels in as they try to negotiate a contract extension. In many ways, you can understand the reasoning behind both sides.
Taylor is coming off a surprisingly successful season in which he went 8-6 as a starter and set career highs in completion percentage (63.7), passing yards (3,035), passing touchdowns (20), rushing yards (568) and rushing touchdowns (4). He wants to get a long-term deal done as he enters the final year of his contract that will pay him $1 million in base salary (including incentives and escalators) in 2016.
But Buffalo is reluctant to hand him starting quarterback money (Brock Osweiler is now averaging $18-plus million after just seven career starts). Taylor was a career backup before joining the Bills in 2015 and it's not as if he was asked to carry the load himself. All six of his losses as starter came when he attempted 27 or more passes.
Perhaps then we shouldn't be surprised that "there has been little, if any, progress" in contract talks between the two sides at this week's NFL owners meetings. As of right now, "no long-term offer has been made" to Taylor and "the Bills aren't convinced enough that he is their franchise-quarterback answer to make a financial investment commensurate with that status."
The Bills are in a tough salary cap situation right now, so even if they did want Taylor long-term, it would be difficult to draft up a contract that reflects that. But the fact remains: no one in Buffalo is sold on Taylor's long-term viability.
Bills general manager Doug Whaley said back in January that the team will "absolutely" consider selecting a quarterback in the early rounds of the 2016 NFL Draft. He also remained vague and distant when asked about a new deal for Taylor at the scouting combine, saying: "If it makes sense and it's a good deal for them and a good deal for the Buffalo Bills, it wouldn't preclude us from doing it. But it would have to make sense."
The Bills hold the No. 19 pick in the upcoming draft and have just south of $7 million in salary cap space at the moment. It will be very interesting to see how the team proceeds with Taylor.
