The Bills put up very little fight en route to Sunday’s 24-10 loss to the Dolphins that guaranteed Buffalo their fourth straight season with at least 10 losses.
According to Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick won’t be around to try to help them avoid a fifth such season in 2013. Gaughan writes that “it seems obvious” that Fitzpatrick won’t see any more of the money from the contract he signed last season.
Per Gaughan, the Bills have already paid Fitzpatrick all of the money that he’s guaranteed from the six-year, $62 million deal and that the team would actually gain nearly $500,000 of cap room by cutting him before a $3 million roster bonus is due. Fitzpatrick would still count $10 million against the cap next year if the team cuts him, a big number but not one that Gaughan believes will stand in the way of Buffalo moving on to another quarterback.
We’d be inclined to agree. General Manager Buddy Nix has talked a lot about the team’s need to find a franchise quarterback and there’s no point in continuing to pretend that Fitzpatrick is that guy. The bigger questions in Buffalo have to do with whether Nix or coach Chan Gailey will be part of the process of finding that franchise quarterback. Former Bills running back Thurman Thomas hinted Sunday that something was “on like a mofo” in Buffalo.
We know it isn’t the team’s play, so we assume it is changes that will radically alter the Bills heading into next season.