Back in April, there was a lot of talk surrounding the Bills about the possibility of drafting their next franchise quarterback. That talk ended without a rookie quarterback. Instead the Bills chose to make Ryan Fitzpatrick the face of the franchise, and Chris Mortensen is reporting that the Bills have finalized that process. The deal, according to Mortensen, is worth 59 millions dollars over 6 years. 24 million of that is guaranteed, and Fitzpatrick is set to earn 33 million dollars in the first 3 years of the deal.
While the deal doesn’t pay him what we call “Manning/Brady money,” it does put him in the upper level of NFL quarterbacks. For the first time in recent memory, the Bills have stabilized their quarterback situation just as they look poised to make the leap from mediocrity to playoff caliber football.
The current members of the Bills’ personnel department aren’t the only ones that like what they see in Ryan Fitzpatrick. Bills former great, Jim Kelly, thinks that Fitzpatrick is great at communicating on the field, and he also believes the Bills showed their wit by not drafting a quarterback early in the draft last spring.
The Bills are currently 2nd in the AFC East at 4-2. They’re tied for the last wild-card slot in the AFC with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens. While I don’t believe that such things as contracts distract players on the field, I’m willing to acknowledge that it could be possible for contract negotiations to distract players. Regardless, there will be now distractions possible in Buffalo going forward from this point. All the Bills have to do now is take care of business.
