Buffalo Bills Rumors: Tyrod Taylor Will Likely Be Back In 2017 If Anthony Lynn Is Named Head Coach

The Buffalo Bills were rumored to be parting ways with Tyrod Taylor, but now there appears to be a chance that the elusive quarterback could return to the team for 2017 — if interim head coach Anthony Lynn is given the job on a permanent basis.

Taylor was benched in the final week of the season, leading to speculation that the Bills were ready to part ways with him and were trying to avoid an injury that would have triggered nearly $30 million in guaranteed money. With the Bills firing head coach Rex Ryan before the final week of the season, it appeared that they were looking to move in a new direction and were leaving Taylor — who was hand-picked by Ryan to be the team’s starter — in the past.

NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that the Bills were ready to find a new quarterback in 2017.

“According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bills don’t ‘have any intention of paying’ the $30.75 million in guaranteed money that they would owe to Taylor for picking up his option,” Buffalo outlet WKBW reported. “The report also confirms the growing sentiment around the franchise: The Bills are planning to move on from Tyrod Taylor as their quarterback.”

The rumors haven’t sat well with many fans of the Buffalo Bills, who saw Taylor as the most talented quarterback the team has had since Drew Bledsoe’s short stretch of brilliance in 2002 and 2003. Others were frustrated at what appeared to be a lack of direction, moving on from Tyrod Taylor with no clear succession plan in place and not many replacement quarterbacks available.

But those fans hoping to keep Taylor on the team might still get their way. Reports on Sunday indicated that the Buffalo Bills ownership of Kim and Terry Pegula apologized to Lynn for forcing him to sit Taylor in Week 17. The report added that Lynn is high on Taylor.

On #Bills search: Owners expressed remorse to interim coach Anthony Lynn for telling him to bench Tyrod Taylor in Week 17. Lynn likes Taylor

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 8, 2017

If true, this apology could be two-fold. It would give reassurances to Lynn that he has final say over the starting quarterback in 2017, and it may also be a sign from the Pegulas that they plan to stay out of personnel decision going forward. It’s not an ideal situation for a coach to have meddling owners, and the Pegulas likely know that now.

It’s unclear what direction the Bills go, but Anthony Lynn was once seen as something of a lock to land the head coaching job. Reports from within the organization suggested that the Bills were set with giving Lynn the job, even though he started the season as the running backs coach and was only named offensive coordinator after Greg Roman was fired following Week 2.

But the competition for Lynn has grown a bit more in the past week. He interviewed for the head coaching vacancies with the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers and has reportedly made a good impression with those teams.

I'm told Anthony Lynn made a very positive impression in his Rams interview

— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) January 8, 2017

If the rumors don’t pan out the Buffalo Bills were to allow Tyrod Taylor to hit the open market, there could be quite a bit of competition for his services. There are reportedly a number of teams that would be interested, including the Denver Broncos, a team that tried to sign Taylor as a free agent in 2014 and reportedly inquired about him with the Bills last offseason.

[Featured Image by Rich Barnes/Getty Images]