<![CDATA[1) Tyrod is back and I think it is time to take off the training wheels. I'm done with having Tyrod swim in the shallow end of the pool while having floaties on. Throw him in the deep end of this pool and let's see if he can swim. Let's find out if Tyrod is the real deal by actually throwing the football more. Open up the playbook. I'm not saying you gotta be 50+ pass a game guy, but let's be around 16th or so in pass attempts. I want Tyrod to be more than a bridge-gap to the next guy. I want him to be the guy. I don't need great, but I want good. Additionally, I don't think with the talent on this football team you can have that formula where the team carries the QB.
2) I know that the Bills need a safety and a few other parts on the defense. It sucks they have holes on both sides of the ball, but if i were the Bills, I'm putting all my resources on offense this offseason. Yeah, I'm risking damnation of the secondary and Rich having a heart attack, but I think in this case, it is more important to overcompensate Tyrod with weapons, than to try and get the best of both worlds with rebuilding both sides. I would take a 3-win Bills team where Tyrod puts up nice numbers than a 6-10 year where the defense/running game carries team while Tyrod is just picking his nose.
3) I'd use my first 2 picks on offense and even in FA I would go for someone on the offensive side of the ball. You have a lot of money and high draft picks tied into the Bills defensive side of the ball more so than on offense. I think you have to count on 99-55-95-Shaq-Darby-Ragland to carry the load. On offense, you got McCoy and the left side of the line, but the depth at WR is a joke. Let's try and end the excuses for why Tyrod may not be the answer. Give him more weapons to help him find the answer.
4) When Tyrod had Clay/Watkins/Woods/McCoy (15 games) together, he was 260 of 406 for 3,362 yards passing (224 per game) 26TDs and 6INTs. In the 14 games without his crew: 251 of 410 for 2,697 yards passing (192 per game) 11TDs and 6INTs. This was my biggest reason why I was open to Tyrod coming back. If he stunk with those guys, I would be against the move. Sammy, please be healthy and let's get some other WR help.
5) Allow me to pontificate, but I tweeted way back in the fall about how the fans and media weren't talking about the possibility of restructuring Tyrod's deal. It was black or white: It was either keep him or die. It was bullshit because I guess using that debate point didn't make for quality content. Restructuring was the most logical assumption because players restructure deals all the time (See: Brady/Brees) to save cap money. I sometimes think that fans/media in Buffalo aren't used to how these deals work because the Sabres and Bills (Under previous ownership) didn't really mess with FA (Cash to the cap or Darcy Regier saying the market was too much). Additionally, when you restructure it doesn't mean you are taking less money. That's a pay cut. The Bills never cared about the actual money they were giving Tyrod, they cared about the cap number. That would NOT have happened under Ralph.
6) Prior to the Tyrod restructure, the Bills were 61-million under the cap next year. That seems like a lot. Yeah, I know they have only a certain number of players under contract, but don't act like they only way the Bills can add players is via FA and spending all that space. There's the draft. There's development. Not every roster is filled with FAs across the NFL. It is mostly done by the draft which means you can have low contracts for at least 4 years. And as for the Dead money that could happen if Tyrod gets cut? Who cares.
Mario Williams counted as 7 million in dead money in 2016. The Bills had 27 million in dead cap money in 2014 and I don’t remember there being a giant investigation about it. You know which team this past year had the 3rd most dead cap space at 25-million dollars? The Atlanta Falcons. HOW DID THEY MANAGE TO GET TO THE SB?!
Players leave. Kyle Williams, Eric Wood and LeSean McCoy may not be here within the next few years as their deals will run out and they may retire. Additionally, the Bills don’t have many guys, if any, who are going to break the bank from their rookie deals to a multi-year deal (Thanks, Doug). It took the Saints almost 8 years to have the cap demons catch up to them and that roster was way more loaded with players who were making bank than this one. Just. Relax. Math. Nerds.
7) How about those reporters!? Seriously. #Rocknwawrow had the scoop that the Bills were negotiating with Hoyer and then 2 minutes later, the Tyrod extension happens. Maybe he misread an email from last year about them going after him and thought it was this year. Vic at TBN had it where Tyrod’s wasn’t going to redo his deal while John Clayton said they were leaning towards saying peace out. Sources can be wrong and sometimes, sources can also lie to you on purpose because they are saving their own asses.
8) So no Doug Whaley in the press release from the Bills, huh? That’s pretty odd since they declared in public he had final say when it came to the 53 man roster. You’d think they would have some comment on it. If you factor in CBS report on being disagreement to go along with the history of leaks there, I will bet dollars to donuts that if Tyrod struggles, someone from One Bills Drive will get on the Bat phone to Jason LaCalifornia (Del’s nickname) to bitch up a storm about how the football department didn’t want him.
9) I reserve to change my mind, but this is Sean McDermott’s show. Doug Whaley hated, HATED Tyrod Taylor. I mean, he benched him at the end of the season because he was worried he’d get hurt and he drafted a QB last year. Maybe he hates him because his arch-nemesis, Rex Ryan, loved him so much. I think the Bills are slowly giving McDermott carte blanche and they are adopting what New England has where the coach is basically the main guy who speaks and also runs the show. Maybe.
10) I’m glad my tank idea isn’t happening. Overall, I’m just glad it is over and we can move on. I’ve changed my mind a bunch on what the Bills should do. I would have let Tyrod go because I just feel they need to rebuild and if you are starting over, I don’t think starting with Tyrod at QB is the right move. However, I’m not going to curse the football gods because of their decision like I’ve done with Russ Brandon’s role or Mario Williams hate. This is the bed they’ve made and I just hope they follow my plan to make that bed comfortable.
11) I think the biggest debate to ask is why are the Bills bringing back Tyrod? Are they doing it because they think they can make a run or are they doing it because they hate the QBs in FA and the draft. The latter we’ve seen before when the Bills kept Fitz after finishing 4-12 and 6-10 and didn’t draft a QB. As we sit here, I’m not really sure. I still think it is NOT a good football team with or without Tyrod.]]>
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