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A year ago, if you told me that an agent was in a media-facing battle with the Bills brass over a quarterback, I would’ve assumed it was Kyle Orton magically re-appearing and demanding to be released. Instead, it’s Tyrod Taylor’s agent vs One Bills Drive.
Adisa Bakari, Bills fandom. Bills fandom, Adisa Bakari. It’s about to get rowdy.
Tyrod Taylor Agent @AdisaBakari: The #Bills didn’t go the playoffs last year because of discipline and the defense. TT was exceptional.
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) April 7, 2016
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On one hand, Bakari has seen a guy get an insane sum from the Texans for half of the starts Tyrod had, whilst the Bills, fans, media and I’m sure a gardener or two have harped on Tyrod missing 2 games. On the other, Tyrod missed those games via injury – and Brock was benched in Denver in favor of a 90% 85% relatively alive Peyton Manning. This has added up into a bit a of a maelstrom – but is Bakari wrong?
I’d argue no.
From the moment Taylor began to grab headlines and wins for the Bills, the Buffalo Bills PR machine fired out all these stats in which Tyrod led the league, or the Bills’ all time players and Bakari simply hit ‘bookmark’ and returned to the Bills with said info at the end of the year. While Taylor does have to add more of a middle of the field game to his repertoire, the mad bomber 2015 edition was far from the problem last year. And while ‘exceptional’ has been the word that was the bone of contention, I’d say given the parameters Buffalo set prior to the season he exceeded them. Go back and read/listen to what was said. Stuff like this:
“I actually tried to trade for (Taylor) when I was with the Jets,” Ryan told CJCL in Toronto. “If he’s not the fastest quarterback in the league, he’s certainly up there with them. He’s got great run skills. I’m not gonna say he’s Russell Wilson, but he’s got a little of that in him, where he’s able to run zone-reads and pull the ball down and be effective.”
For the Bills to intimate they wanted to use Tyrod in the run game (which they did) and then for complaints that he was out 2 games to surface, passive aggressively or no, is having your cake and eating it too.
To me, this isn’t a battle for a signature by end of camp, or by week 1. This is an advanced warning, a spoiler if you will from an agent regarding the cost to sign Taylor.
.@AdisaBakari on #Broncos Report: Won’t discuss that but what Tyrod Taylor was able to do last yr wasn’t something that just #Bills noticed.
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) April 7, 2016
If the Bills do want to retain Taylor at the end of the season and – big if – Taylor repeats his success of 2015, then there’s gonna be a reckoning. To retain him, it’ll require at least what Bakari has asked for plus a “make good”. Or, if they franchise him, you’re going to be running into the issue of paying him 19 million dollars in one year and guaranteeing his floor in “g-jack” (credit Tim Ryan) to be in the vicinity of 40+ million dollars.
But as I said, that’s at the end of NEXT season. Right now, Bakari is potentially putting his client in a bad spot. As Sal Capaccio astutely pointed out this morning on WGR, this is Bakari’s first QB. Unlike Forte or Jones-Drew, if Taylor were to hold out this off-season, it could be disastrous for not only his prospects of extension, but the Bills season as well. Burning the village to win the war would not be advisable. And that’s the only end-game card he could play at this point, save perhaps for Tyrod missing a few voluntary workouts to make his point clear.
In the interim, it’s great to observe from afar how this plays out. As long as Bakari keeps defenders’ names out of his commentary, I don’t think his tone will offend them. However, every time he reminds us that the defense were less-than-supportive at times in keeping their end of the bargain up I’m sure pencils are being broken in Rex’s office. But again, find the lie.
Round 4 in the Bakari – Bills fight is about to start. It’s gonna go 12, so get comfy.
Ding. Ding.
Thoughts? Hit me up @RDotDeuce. And look for an article Monday with my thoughts on the past week in FA/Tarpley Retirement and my manifesto for the BuffaloWins brand family. Get LIT.
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