Buffalo finished 29th in total offense and 22nd in points, and the Bills scored only three points in the playoff loss to the Jaguars. It could cost offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and quarterback Tyrod Taylor their jobs.
Dennison did not get a public vote of confidence from Sean McDermott on Tuesday, as the head coach declined to speculate about the future of any coaches. McDermott said he will evaluate everything in the coming days and weeks.
The Bills have two months to figure out what to do at the quarterback position. It appears they are ready to move on from Taylor, who has gone 22-20 (plus a playoff loss) as the team’s starter the past three seasons.
“We’re not satisfied with the whole offense, and it wasn’t just about Tyrod,” Bills General Manager Brandon Beane said, via Mike Brown of the team website. “There are a lot of hands in the cookie jar so to speak. Sean and I are going to talk about everything. We know we have to get better on offense, defense and special teams. We are far from a finished product. We have a lot of work to do and we know that. That’s going to get started pretty quickly after this press conference.”
If the Bills are committed to moving on -- and by all appearances they are -- they will try to trade Taylor first before cutting him. He took a pay cut before the start of the season and now has only $1 million guaranteed next year with another $6 million due on the third day of the 2018 league year, which essentially becomes the Bills’ deadline for moving on from him. His salary cap hit for 2018 is $18.08 million.
The Bills would take a $3 million cap hit by cutting him and a $2 million hit by trading him.
Beane wasn’t giving anything away Tuesday, praising Taylor’s work ethic.
“The great thing about Tyrod is you can never question his work ethic,” Beane said. “He does so many good things and gives himself the best chance to succeed on the field by what he does off.”
The Bills, though, will have to find a quarterback if they decide to part ways with Taylor. Joe Webb becomes a free agent, leaving Nathan Peterman as the only other quarterback on their roster, and the Bills surely aren’t ready to entrust the offense to him.
The Bills do have two picks in each of the first two rounds of the draft, and Beane said that gives the team flexibility to address any position of need, including quarterback.