When the Billsfired Tyrod Taylor's biggest booster in the building and benched the quarterback for the season finale, it was natural to assume both parties would welcome a clean break in 2017.
Looming over the next month is Taylor's weighty $30.75 million contract option, which must be exercised by March 11.
Will the team's brass ultimately decide to double-down on Taylor at that rate, ask him to restructure the deal or risk going all-in on a potential Tony Romo trade?
Although Taylor hasn't ruled out a slightly altered contract, he is unwilling to accept any restructure that would reduce his pay, according to Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News.
Here's where it gets tricky.
Appearing on Friday's edition of Up to the Minute Live, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport echoed Carucci's report but added that there is a "very real possibility" Taylor will be amenable to altering his salary-cap number as long as it doesn't involve a pay cut.
So what's really going on in Buffalo?
Both parties could have examined the quarterback landscape in early January and imagined that the grass would be greener on the other side by March.
A month later, that's not necessarily the case. New Bills coach Sean McDermott hired Rick Dennison, who previously worked with Taylor in Baltimore, to run his offense.
Is it worth alienating Taylor if Romo views Buffalo as a football outpost still years away from contending for the Super Bowl in a division owned by the dynastic Patriots?
If Taylor's own organization watched him up-close for two years and still remains unconvinced that he's a legitimate franchise quarterback, will he be able to seduce a suitor willing to match Buffalo's financial commitment?
It will be interesting to see if the team's financial experts and Taylor's representatives can find common ground on a restructured deal that leaves Taylor with $30 million in guarantees while lowering the cap number for 2017.
While we expect both sides to put out feelers at the NFL Scouting Combine later this month, perhaps Taylor isn't destined to leave Buffalo after all.
