Tyrod Taylor's representative, Adisa Bakari, came out with a strongly worded quote directed at the Bills this week in regards to a possible contract extension for Taylor, warning that "31 other teams that have watched and will be watching Tyrod."
But Bills coach Rex Ryan has been here before, and has learned not to blink while staring down a potential contract-related mess with a star player.
"First off, our entire organization believes in Tyrod Taylor," Ryan said Tuesday at the AFC Coaches Breakfast in Boca Raton, Florida. "There's no doubt. However, sometimes when you look at your situation cap wise or whatever, anything that would include an extension for him would have to be in the best interest of both Tyrod and the Bills and right now, it's probably hard to bring those two things together with our cap situation."
He added: "I think the agent is probably the most disappointed out of all of them, but there's a football team to run. It's not just one player, so for the agent he's got a player so I get it. But we have to do what is in the best interest of your team and not just one player."
Ryan is right, though as colleague Chris Wesseling pointed out earlier this week, Bakari brought some good points to the table. The Bills are getting an absolute steal for the 2016 season by having Taylor on the books for a $2 million base salary and $3.1 million total cap hit, which is less than many NFL backups. Taylor, who threw for 3,035 yards, 20 touchdowns and just six interceptions last year, made his first Pro Bowl and led a Bills offense that was quite dangerous at times.
When looking at the quarterbacks the Browns, Broncos, 49ers and Jets are squabbling over at the moment, there are probably some who believe that Taylor would be a preferred option compared to Ryan Fitzpatrick, Robert Griffin III or Colin Kaepernick.
This is always the problem when a team gets a good deal. It's never a good deal for too long. As Taylor told Around The NFL at the Pro Bowl, he wants to be in Buffalo for the long haul. Can they make it happen with a little more than $7 million in cap space, having already prioritized several other players this offseason?
