The Bills and quarterback Tyrod Taylor agreed to a long term extension Friday afternoon, a deal created to keep Taylor in red, white, and blue for the next six years. According to Tim Graham of the Buffalo News, the deal runs six years and is worth $90 million, but could be worth more with incentives.
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One season was enough for Tyrod Taylor to convince the Buffalo Bills he has the potential to be their franchise quarterback. His TD:INT ratio (20-6), record as a starter (8-6), and Pro-Bowl appearance left many impressed with the former 6th round pick.
Taylor has already shown signs of becoming more confident and taking on a larger leadership role by being more assertive in the huddle.
Rookie Cardale Jones has reportedly looked raw, at best during Bills training camp, and his future seems to be on the backup quarterback track, despite his cannon for a right arm. Am I happy that it got done? Yes. It’s a necessity if you’re going to be a good, starting quarterback.
The Bills open the preseason against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night.
“I see the confidence that his teammates have in him and we think we’re going to get it done with Tyrod at quarterback”, Ryan said. He also ran for four touchdowns.
Whaley, meanwhile, called Taylor “undeniably the leader of the Buffalo Bills”, even if he didn’t add the context “for 2016 and then we will revisit the subject”. Taylor was injured scrambling last season, and in the two games he missed, the Bills went 0-2. His 99.4 passer rating in 2015, ranks second all-time in Buffalo Bills history. They get their bridge deal for the first two years, Taylor gets like the rest of the starters in the league, and if he earns it, it becomes a lucrative long-term extension. He beat out EJ Manuel and Matt Cassel for the starting job last season.
Fitzpatrick’s extension, a six-year, $59 million deal, was notable because it failed to pan out.
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“The thing that I knew about him was his work ethic and his passion for the game and obviously his God-given ability”, head coach Rex Ryan said. But $9.5 million is still relatively small change for an National Football League starting QB and Taylor’s 2016 cap hit of $9.63 million ranks 23 among quarterbacks.
