Bills “Very Much” In The Mix For TE Charles Clay, Browns “Not A Threat”

Update:

Vic Carucci reports that the TE Charles Clay has returned to Miami after spending the past three days in Buffalo.

• According to Carucci, the Dolphins are still trying to keep Clay, despite just signing TE Jordan Cameron to a contract.
• Pro Football Talk reports that the Dolphins do not intend to rescind transition tender from Clay.
• Carucci adds that if the Dolphins lift the transition tag, the Bills would likely sign him.
• If Miami keeps the tag in place, Carucci mentions that the Bills could have an offer to him by tomorrow.
• Carucci mentions that the Bills remain “very much” in Clay Sweepstakes, as they’ll either sign him as unrestricted free agent or present an offer that the Dolphins won’t match.
• As for the Browns, Carucci is hearing that they aren’t a threat to sign Clay.

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Ian Rapoport reports that the Dolphins are working on a long-term contract extension for TE Charles Clay, despite the fact that they’re also meeting with free agent TE Jordan Cameron.

• Rapoport adds that the Bills are still preparing to sign Clay to an offer sheet, but the Dolphins could obviously prevent that from happening by reach an agreement with Clay.
• Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that Clay is the Browns’ “top target” and they are prepared to make a “competitive push” to sign him.
• Fowler admits that the Bills are still the clubhouse leader for Clay at this point in time.

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It has been widely reported that the Bills are considered the front-runners to land TE Charles Clay.

Tim Graham reports however, that the Dolphins are not “conceding” and the Browns remain a “wild card.”

Clay, 25, caught 58 passes for 605 yards receiving and three touchdowns over the course of 14 games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 14 tight end out of 67 qualifying players.

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Jason La Canfora reports that the Bills are waiting to see what DT Ndamukong Suh‘s contract with the Dolphins looks like before submitting an offer sheet to TE Charles Clay.

According to La Canfora, the Bills’ offer is expected to be “heavily front-loaded” and would pay him $9 million or more in 2015.

La Canfora mentions that the Dolphins may not be able to take on a big year-one commitment like that.

Last night, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reported the Dolphins have “set their sights” on Browns free agent TE Jordan Cameron as a potential replacement for Clay, so it appears as though the Dolphins are well aware of the fact that they could lose Clay even after they used their transition tag on him.

The transition tag gives the Dolphins the right of first refusal. However, if Clay receives an offer from another team like the Bills, and the Dolphins refuse to match it, they would not receive any compensation.

We’ll have more regarding Clay and the Bills as the news is available.