GM tables decision about going fourth with Taylor
Three-year starter was hurt during playoff loss and the offence regressed this season
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.— Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane is keeping his options open and intends to take his time determining whether quarterback Tyrod Taylor will return for a fourth season.
“We’re going to make the best decision. I’m literally going to go back and watch how he played at the beginning of the year, how he played in the middle of the year and how he played in the end. We’ll see,” Beane said Tuesday after he and coach Sean McDermott held an end-of-season news conference.
“We’re going to take our time and make an informed decision,” Beane added. “The easy thing to do is go off the last game. And that’s not fair.”
He was referring to Taylor overseeing a pedestrian offensive attack Sunday in a 10-3 loss at Jacksonville in an AFC wild-card playoff. Taylor went 17 of 37 for 134 yards and an interception before being forced out of the game after suffering a concussion on Buffalo’s final possession.
His production against Jacksonville reflected an inconsistent season for the third-year starter.
Beane said Taylor doesn’t deserve all the blame for an offence that finished 29th in the NFL in yards gained, and scored just eight touchdowns over the final seven games, including the post-season.
But make no mistake, the first-year general manager said, the Bills need a franchise quarterback.
“It’s a quarterback league,” Beane said. “Where you get it, I really don’t care. If you give me one, whether he’s on the street now, whether he’s a free agent, whether I draft him, I’ll take him anywhere.”
Buffalo has enough assets — two picks in each of the first two rounds of the draft — to move up and address any position of need, including quarterback, Beane added.