It has been a foregone conclusion for some time now that the Buffalo Bills will release starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor before the start of free agency next month. The team benched him for rookie Nathan Peterman at one point during the 2017 season, and have been pretty pretty clear about their intentions at quarterback moving forward. That has not included the team bringing Taylor back.
Until now.
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Buffalo is not planning on releasing the enigmatic quarterback. In fact, the team is said to be willing to pay him his $6 million roster bonus.
“At this point, it doesn’t seem like they’re going to cut him without knowing who his replacement will be,” Rapoport said. “The Bills are OK with paying a $6 million roster bonus to keep him on the roster.”
Taylor is due that $6 million roster bonus on March 16th, the start of free agency. Based on Rapoport’s report, this means that Buffalo will not release him before said bonus is slated to kick in. Short of the Bills working out a trade for another quarterback prior the middle of next month, Taylor will be on the team’s roster next season. At the very least, that’s what this one report notes. It also means that Buffalo is seemingly willing to let Taylor count north of $18 million against the cap in 2018.
Then again, this could be nothing more than the Bills attempting to increase Taylor’s value in a potential trade. Among the teams expected to be interested in him, the Denver Broncos could very well come calling. Of course, that’s pure conjecture on our part. It’s still something to look at following this explosive report.