PFF: Why the Bills should build around Taylor

[DraftBoy]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-bills-should-build-around-tyrod-taylor-not-show-him-the-door/


With uncertainty surrounding the team as they show Rex and Rob Ryan the door, it made some business sense for the Buffalo Bills to bench Tyrod Taylor in Week 17. By doing so, the franchise avoided being on the hook for a huge sum of guaranteed money if Taylor got hurt in a meaningless game. Now that the season is over, however, the Bills would be foolish to walk away from the quarterback.

Tyrod Taylor represents an increasingly frustrating tranche of NFL quarterbacks that have shown more than enough ability to win games, yet will likely never become elite. In the current football landscape, such players can command ludicrous salaries based entirely off their ability to not be Blaine Gabbert.

Taylor isn’t alone here; there is an increasing number of flawed, but capable, starters around the league giving teams major headaches when it comes contract time. Washington is in a similar bind with Kirk Cousins, and others will follow.

Everybody is searching for the next Aaron Rodgers, because he is the home-run hit that makes everything else easier. Rodgers found his old form this season and transformed a Green Bay offense that was stuck in the mud. He has been able to overcome an underperforming defense that can’t cover anybody, and drag his team to the playoffs—and who knows how much further. If Green Bay replaced him with even Derek Carr or Drew Brees, that probably doesn’t happen.

Full disclosure, I'm not the biggest fan of what PFF does but it's a well written piece that provides some decent statistical context.

[elltrain22]

I think we all saw how bad this team is w/o Tyrod, and I really think if we let him walk, we are taking a VERY big risk at the most important position on the field. Hopefully, TT will make the decision very easy, and try to rework his deal to a much more cap friendly number. With that said, I don't see him wanting or trying to do that. If he doesn't want to restructure, IMO, we shouldn't let him walk.

[OpIv37]

I don't love the idea of keeping Tyrod but I don't know who we are going to get that's better.

[Homegrown]

gotta love the premise of the article - "my girlfriend is fat & disgusting, but she gives a great blow job" ....

[Mahdi]

http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php/236117-tyrod-not-so-bad

[OpIv37]

gotta love the premise of the article - "my girlfriend is fat & disgusting, but she gives a great blow job" ....

Yeah but all the girls who are better looking have large, muscular boyfriends, so if we're stuck with a fattie, may as well be with the one who gives the best head.

[Turf]

I don't see a quick fix besides TT. The offense is scoring. Fix the defense and get a coach that does his job, draft a QB. I think I said this verbatim before but IMO its the only option.
If you get a new coach and scrap the QB, you have two more years of semi rebuilding. Then two years from now we clean house and start all over again. Now we have 5 more years guaranteed with no playoffs. I say you try and transition slowly by fixing the defense.

[Thurmal]

He is awesome at winning games where McCoy is running for more yards than Taylor throws for, the defense is playing lights out, and he is asked to do as little as possible.

[Bill Cody]

This debate is so tiresome

[Bill Cody]

then again being a fan of this team in general is exhausting

[Luisito23]

I don't love the idea of keeping Tyrod but I don't know who we are going to get that's better.

That's the problem...I don't want Taylor at all, but damn, what are the alternatives?...

[justasportsfan]

I guess is we keep Tyrod we would have to have an all time great D and current ruuning game.

Just know that if McCoy goes down with an injury, we're toast offensively with TT as our qb.

[k-oneputt]

If they don't resign TT then what are the options ?

The option that had better happen is trading a mid-round draft pick for either Romo or Cutler and draft another qb early in the coming draft.
If not, then they are looking at 3-4 wins next year.

[DraftBoy]

If they don't resign TT then what are the options ?

The option that had better happen is trading a mid-round draft pick for either Romo or Cutler and draft another qb early in the coming draft.
If not, then they are looking at 3-4 wins next year.

I don't think a mid-round pick alone is going to get either Cutler or Romo.

[k-oneputt]

Well I'm not sure what it will take, maybe a couple of picks. It's not going to be a 1st or 2nd.
If TT isn't resigned they have to do something. I would even be in for Glennon.
I sure as hell don't want to go in with Cardale next year.

[DraftBoy]

Well I'm not sure what it will take, maybe a couple of picks. It's not going to be a 1st or 2nd.
If TT isn't resigned they have to do something. I would even be in for Glennon.
I sure as hell don't want to go in with Cardale next year.

Depending on what Dallas or Chicago want, I'd rather see if Foles gets cut in KC and bring him in a 1-2 year bridge.

[k-oneputt]

I could live with Foles also.
I wanted him at the beginning of this season but I forgot we had EJ and Whaley.

[djjimkelly]

I don't love the idea of keeping Tyrod but I don't know who we are going to get that's better.

maybe we need worse before better to actually get better

[TacklingDummy]

Brian Hoyer can get the Bills 6 to 8 wins and he will be much cheaper.

[YardRat]

I would argue though that Tyrod Taylor has clearly surpassed whatever reasonable threshold you want to specify. I don’t think Taylor is flawless by any means, and he’s a QB that may have a very definitive cap on his projected ceiling, but he has demonstrated himself to be a capable starter, at which point you are far better off dedicating resources to build around him as opposed to endlessly searching for a replacement—the odds of successfully upgrading at all are minimal.

The issue with the premise of the article is if the team retains Taylor under the terms of the current agreement, it severely hampers, if not completely nullifies, any significant opportunity to 'build around him'.

[OpIv37]

That's the problem...I don't want Taylor at all, but damn, what are the alternatives?...

In terms of guys we can realistically get, not much. We may be able to get Romo but he'd be a stopgap at best and it would be difficult to do anything else with his cap hit plus the $10 million in dead space from Tyrod. (For the record, I think Romo is a terrible idea but I'm just listing the options). Cutler may be out there but he's a cancer.

I'm not aware of anyone else that may be available who could win now. The only other option is to clean house and start over...

[TacklingDummy]

Sign some scrub and tank for Sam Darnold.

[k-oneputt]

I know one guy who will be dumping his season tickets if they plan on going with Cardale next year.

[OpIv37]

Oh, and for those of you who don't think Whaley should be fired, remember this is his fault. He is the one who drafted EJ and he is the one who gave Taylor this stupid contract. All he had to do was google "Ryan Fitzpatrick" to avoid a huge mistake.

[Turf]

Romo 1 year older would get killed behind this OL. Terrible investment and idea.

[swiper]

For all you Romo hopefuls out there - I will tell you that every call in on NYC talk radio about the Jets is "when are they going to sign Romo."

[YardRat]

For all you Romo hopefuls out there - I will tell you that every call in on NYC talk radio about the Jets is "when are they going to sign Romo."

Yeah, I would say it say it's 50-50 between NY and Denver, with Buffalo a distant third at 0. I'm OK with that.

[BertSquirtgum]

No. They really shouldn't.

[k-oneputt]

Ok.
For all you no Romo, no Cutler, no re-signing TT.....
What's the plan then ?

[Kenny]

I dont like the cap number, but another year of TT and this offense isnt the worst thing in the world. Taylor isnt good enough to carry this team, but he can put up some points.
If we can fix this defense, it'll be a game changer.

Hate looking back and thinking about the 'what-ifs', but think about the 2 miami games, the 2 jets games, and that Oakland game. These are games that our defense completely gave away... That's 5 wins we left on the table. Couldnt stop the big passing plays, couldnt stop the run. Keeping this offense intact for another year and fixing this mess of a defense should be our priority.

[Ingtar33]

Ok.
For all you no Romo, no Cutler, no re-signing TT.....
What's the plan then ?

welcome to life as a Chic Bears, SD Chargers, Cin Bengals, Det Lions, Batl Ravens, Was Redskins, Az Cardnals, or KC Chiefs fan. Stuck with a mediocre QB, who's a little too good to get rid of, too good for you to do bad enough to draft another guy, but not really good enough to carry your team.

That's what we've got with TT. He'll never carry us, but replacing him will be VERY HARD.

[Turf]

I never thought I'd say this, but I would go for Cutler. At least he can thread the needle. But we still need to address both lines, because TT makes our O-line look good.

[Ingtar33]

I never thought I'd say this, but I would go for Cutler. At least he can thread the needle. But we still need to address both lines, because TT makes our O-line look good.

cutler is someone you might rent when you have the rest of the team. He's no one I'd ever want in my locker room for more then a year or two.

-sidenote: he's also fragile, he's not started 16 games in a season since his first in Chicago.

[k-oneputt]

So we are keeping TT then, because we sure as hell can't start Cardale week -1.

[TacklingDummy]

Start Cardale and tank for the #1 ranked QB prospect.

[DraftBoy]

Start Cardale and tank for the #1 ranked QB prospect.

For two years?

USC's QB's dont usually leave early and Darnold may not even be the top prospect if he leaves early next year.

[k-oneputt]

Start Cardale and tank for the #1 ranked QB prospect.

Good luck with that. By October there will be 30,000 fans in the stadium.

[jamze132]

Tyrod is a bit of an enigma in that his overall stats say he's a top 10 QB but we all know his accuracy and anticipation issues. However, our offense has put up some major points with him. I personally don't want to **** with our offense by getting rid of Tyrod's production since there isn't anyone else available. Maybe in year 3 he'll make improvements in the passing game.

[TacklingDummy]

For two years?

USC's QB's dont usually leave early and Darnold may not even be the top prospect if he leaves early next year. it's not like the Bills haven't gone back to back 2-14 seasons before. Last time it seemed to work out quite nicely.

[DraftBoy]

Oh, and for those of you who don't think Whaley should be fired, remember this is his fault. He is the one who drafted EJ and he is the one who gave Taylor this stupid contract. All he had to do was google "Ryan Fitzpatrick" to avoid a huge mistake.

Taylor's contract isn't that bad in terms of pure numbers. The stupid part was the injury guarantee to me. Even if the Bills pickup his option for 2017 the cap hit still leaves us with roughly $30 million in cap space.

[EDS]

Taylor's contract isn't that bad in terms of pure numbers. The stupid part was the injury guarantee to me. Even if the Bills pickup his option for 2017 the cap hit still leaves us with roughly $30 million in cap space.

$30 million in cap space minus three defensive starters and the teams leading receiver . . .

[Bill Cody]

Sign some scrub and tank for Sam Darnold.

That was an exciting game. The kid has poise for sure. But that doesn't make him an NFL star, long way to go before he gets anoited.

[DraftBoy]

$30 million in cap space minus three defensive starters and the teams leading receiver . . .

So having $45 million but still needing to a sign at least one starting QB in addition to everything you else you named is better?

[EDS]

So having $45 million but still needing to a sign at least one starting QB in addition to everything you else you named is better?

No it isn't. The issue is that while the team has a good amount of cap space, with or without Taylor, that number is misleading due to the number of significant free agents the team has.

So if someone is taking the position that this team has the talent to compete but just needs better coaching, you need to consider that any cap space has to be used to replace a starting corner, two starting linebackers, a starting wide receive and the starting right tackle, in addition to addressing deficiencies at safety and depth in general.

[Bill Cody]

Ok.
For all you no Romo, no Cutler, no re-signing TT.....
What's the plan then ?

The plan is the same as what it's been for going on two decades. LOSE.

Here's the plan. Retain Whaley and Brandon. Sign an inexperienced guy who doesn't look like he'll deal well with the press as HC in Lynn. Let TT walk and let the two remaining bums plus a third bum to be named "compete" to start at QB. What does this plan sound like to you?

Here's what it sounds like to me.

2017 6-10
2018 1-15

THEN Peg springs into action.

Bills fire Whaley. Bills fire Brandon. Bills Fire Lynn. New GM and coach is hired, there's a parade. This board is lighting up.

and with the 1st pick of the 2019 draft, the Buffalo Bills select.... Akili Smith Jr.

lather, rinse, repeat

[k-oneputt]

I think you have it Bill Cody.

Thus I won't be contributing $$$$$ anymore for this garbage.

[DraftBoy]

No it isn't. The issue is that while the team has a good amount of cap space, with or without Taylor, that number is misleading due to the number of significant free agents the team has.

So if someone is taking the position that this team has the talent to compete but just needs better coaching, you need to consider that any cap space has to be used to replace a starting corner, two starting linebackers, a starting wide receive and the starting right tackle, in addition to addressing deficiencies at safety and depth in general.

Fair points.