Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor at one point was reportedly “unwilling” to restructure a contract that had a major balloon payment due today. Ultimately, Taylor agreed to a new contract -- and it appears that the decision came after getting the team’s offer and subtly finding out what else may be out there. Which is exactly what should have happened.
During a recent press conference, Taylor suggested that his agent attempted to gauge the market during the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
“I didn’t physically talk to any other teams,” Taylor said. “Casual conversation with my agent through -- I mean everyone’s at the Combine and stuff like that. No official conversations.”
Taylor elaborated on the effort to see what other teams would do during a Friday visit to PFT Live.
“As far as the money, we didn’t get into too many specifics,” Taylor said. “My agent can’t get into too much because of me still being in a contract with the Bills. So it was more of casual conversation. I was never technically released so they couldn’t get into numbers or offers that were out there.”
Technically, there should have be no conversations of any kind, official, unofficial, casual, hypothetical, etc. But it made sense for Taylor’s agent to get an idea as to what would be behind Door No. 2 if Taylor decided not to accept the Door No. 1 offer extended by the Bills. And it actually helps the Bills if Taylor realizes that no other team was willing to do what the Bills did financially.
Also, it’s important to remember that neither the player nor the agent does anything “wrong” by finding else what other teams would pay. It’s the teams that commit the tampering violations by engaging in conversations with players under contract elsewhere. Regardless, the end result of the process resulted in a renewal of the vows between Taylor and the Bills.
“We came to an agreement that both sides thought fit the team and fit my situation the best,” Taylor said. “I’m excited to be back. This is a very talented team with a great coaching staff around it and I’m excited to see what we can do moving forward.”
Fans should be excited too. Regardless of who else would have been available, consistency at the quarterback position is key.