Bills playing with fire by delaying extension for Tyrod Taylor

The Buffalo Bills may have come up short in their quest to get back to the playoffs last season, but their continued mediocrity no longer had anything to do with the player in the most important position on the field.

Tyrod Taylor vastly exceeded expectations in his first opportunity as a full-time starter, quickly and rightfully earning himself consideration as the best quarterback the Bills have had since Jim Kelly.

Yet talks regarding a potential contract extension don't appear to be going anywhere and we're now several months into the offseason.

As the Bills publicly cite salary-cap concerns, and do their due diligence on all quarterbacks available in the draft, Taylor remains on the books for a mere $2 million in base salary in 2016.

Buffalo's focus on the salary cap is to be expected. Several seasons of the front office severely mismanaging its player contracts now has the team on the brink of cap hell.

But with a long-term outlook in mind, a new deal for Taylor shouldn't be considered an obstacle in the ongoing efforts to stabilize a dire financial situation.

Taking the smart gamble

The Bills would love to go into the 2016 season with a starting-caliber quarterback playing at Taylor's salary. What team wouldn't?

His scheduled $2 million in cash earnings is currently lower than that of 35 other signal callers around the league. Only four teams, including the still-searching Denver Broncos and New York Jets, are spending less on the quarterback position next year.

But if Taylor continues his development as a passer, building upon a 2015 campaign in which he threw for 3,035 yards, 20 touchdowns, and just six interceptions, his contract demands will most likely have gone through the roof by this time next year.

Avoiding such a situation by signing Taylor to a contract at his current market value would have the potential to look like a bargain, both by next offseason and for many years to follow.

A safe structure

In discussing the parameters of a deal to keep Taylor around long-term, the Bills must also look to protect themselves in the event that his progression takes a step in the wrong direction.

As is the case regarding the surface numbers involved in such an agreement, negotiating just 14 starts into his NFL career can also give the organization some much-needed leverage in terms of structure.

Extending Taylor at this juncture, for example, could conceivably allow the Bills to negotiate a Colin Kaepernick-like deal that actually involves minimal risk.

Kaepernick, of course, signed a monster six-year, $114-million deal in 2014. The initial numbers were staggering, but it wasn't long before it became clear that the club had numerous points at which it could avoid injury guarantees and effectively make the deal much shorter if need be.

As Buffalo continues to schedule meetings with many of this year's top quarterback prospects, any opposition to the idea of a long-term contract for Taylor will start with the possibility of readdressing the position in the draft.

But targeting another young signal caller at some point in the middle rounds could be a sensible strategy regardless of whether Taylor is in the team's long-term plans.

Buffalo's primary focus in this decision-making process should be to avoid another lengthy trip to quarterback purgatory. As it currently stands, Taylor is far more deserving of confidence than any signal caller that could be made available at No. 19 overall and beyond.

The Bills would be wise to make this deal a priority in the weeks that follow the upcoming draft, correcting the mistake of not having done so immediately after Taylor's breakout year.