Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that the Bills do not plan to retain QB Tyrod Taylor at his current contract and are continuing to explore other options in the free agent market.
La Canfora mentions that the Bills have proposals at a lower salary on the table for Taylor. However, everyone he’s spoken to at the Combine has said that there’s really no reason why Taylor should accept a lesser deal from the Bills, as he would likely be a coveted free agent if available.
League sources tell La Canfora that the Browns have “significant interest” in Taylor, who has ties to the team’s coaching staff. If he ends up being a free agent, La Canfora would be “shocked” if Cleveland didn’t make a run at signing him. In fact, sources around the league tell La Canfora that they believe Taylor will ultimately end up with the Browns.
Adding a veteran like Taylor would allow the Browns to target the best players available at No. 1 and No. 12 overall, rather than grabbing one of the rookie quarterbacks who will come with question marks.
Last we heard regarding Taylor, Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News reported that there are at least three teams known to have interest in signing Taylor if the Bills do not pick up his option the coming days including the Browns, 49ers, and Jets.
The Bills needed to decide whether to pick up his $27.5M option bonus by March 11.
Taylor, 27, is a former sixth-round pick of the Ravens back in 2011. After four years in Baltimore, the Bills signed him to a three-year, $3.35 million contract that included just $1.2 million guaranteed last year.
However, the third year of his contract actually voided after he surpassed the snap limit last year. The Bills later signed him to six-year, $92 million contract but the deal is really a one-year, $9.5 million agreement with a $15.5 million option on 2017 to go along with a $12 million base salary
In 2016, Taylor has thrown for 3,023 yards while completing 61.7 percent of his passes to go along with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. Taylor has added 469 yards rushing and six touchdowns on the ground. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 11 quarterback out of 36 qualifying players.
We’ll have more regarding the Bills and Taylor as the news is available.
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