Tyrod Taylor’s Long-Term Deal Won’t Mask Bills’ Short-Term Problem

The Buffalo Bills are attempting to cover a mistake by signing quarterback Tyrod Taylor to a contract extension. The mistake will only grow in magnitude if the organization resets after the upcoming season. 

This isn’t an indictment of Taylor’s skills. Rather, the end result speaks to how poorly the Bills handled their quarterback throughout the process. 

Last season, the mobile quarterback earned the starting job by beating out veteran Matt Cassel and former first-round pick E.J. Manuel. He went on to throw for 3,035 yards, 20 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 14 games. He also added 568 rushing yards and four more scores. 

Was Taylor perfect? Of course not. There are still areas of his game where the sixth-year quarterback can improve, but he earned his first Pro Bowl berth and entered rarefied territory, per the Buffalo Bills’ official Twitter feed: 

#TyrodTaylor: Tyrod is just the third QB in @NFL history to finish a season with a passer rating over 99 and over 40 yards rushing per game.

— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) August 12, 2016

Yet, the Bills didn’t want to commit to him at the time. By mid-December, the organization still wasn’t fully convinced Taylor was their franchise quarterback despite stellar early season play. 

“Is he the long-term starter?” general manager Doug Whaley said, per the MMQB’s Jenny Vrentas. “Let’s put it this way: He’s shown us enough that we can obviously keep trying with him. But it won’t preclude us from going out and protecting ourselves [in case] he’s not.”

Nearly nine months later, the organization signed Taylor to a potential $90-plus million deal, according to the Buffalo News’ Tim Graham: 

Tyrod Taylor deal can be as long as six years, but contains team options. $90 million, but could be more with incentives.

— Tim Graham (@ByTimGraham) August 12, 2016

It’s a massive investment in a player Whaley didn’t view as a franchise quarterback less than a year ago. 

According to Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, the organization didn’t envision him as anything more than an “average long-term starter” as the NFL draft approached: 

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