
Bills G.M. Buddy Nix has 350,000 reasons not to talk about quarterback Vince Young.
Cut today by the Bills after the team traded for Tarvaris Jackson, Young leaves with the $350,000 signing bonus he received after signing with the Bills on May 14, according to a source with knowledge of the contract.
Young would have made another $300,000 if he had made it onto the team’s 53-man roster for one game, and his base salary of $1.25 million would have been guaranteed, as a practical matter, if Young were on the Week One roster.
Young now becomes a free agent, again. The next question is whether he’ll be joined by Tyler Thigpen or Brad Smith. While it’s easy to assume that Jackson will be the No. 2 quarterback and that Thigpen will hit the road, Jackson could give the Bills a more potent weapon in the alternative offense than Brad Smith.
And let’s not forget that Jackson took a few snaps in 2009 as the personal punt protector in Minnesota.
So Jackson may not necessarily be the backup quarterback in Buffalo; he could become the Bills’ answer to Tim Tebow, with new quarterbacks coach David Lee devising a package for Jackson, who if nothing else could possibly be a better scout-team option for the Tebow offense as the Bills prepare to face the Jets.