The ex-Bills and current Browns quarterback thinks he deserved more in Buffalo.
Sean Wagner-McGough / cbssports.com
Tyrod Taylor helped the Buffalo Bills snap their historic playoff drought in 2017. His reward? An offseason trade to the Cleveland, where he’ll serve as the Browns’ bridge quarterback until Baker Mayfield is ready to claim his throne.
When Taylor was recently asked when he knew that he wasn’t going to be Bills coach Sean McDermott’s quarterback, he admitted that he feels like he did “more than enough” to stick around in Buffalo.
“Whether I was or whether I wasn’t, I’m not there anymore. That’s his decision moving forward,” he told The Buffalo News. “I still feel that I’d done more than enough to stay where I was. But at the end of the day, they made a decision to move forward. And that’s their decision.”
Taylor’s not wrong. He might just be one of the most underrated and under-appreciated quarterbacks in football. With the Bills from 2015-17, Taylor completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 8,857 yards, 51 touchdowns, 16 interceptions, and a 92.5 passer rating to go along with his 1,575 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. Among quarterbacks with at least 16 starts in that span, Taylor ranked 20th in completion percentage, 20th in passing yards, 27th in touchdown percentage, second in interception percentage (as in, the second-lowest interception percentage), 15th in passer rating, second in rushing yards, and second in rushing touchdowns.
Was he perfect? Absolutely not. At times, Taylor’s cautiousness can be a hindrance to an NFL offense. But he was more capable than McDermott and the Bills gave him credit for evidenced by McDermott’s decision to bench Taylor for Nathan Peterman before their Week 11 game against the Chargers. Peterman threw five interceptions in the first half before McDermott turned back to Taylor, who submitted a typical performance in the second half that ultimately didn’t matter in a blowout. Despite that self-inflicted loss, the Bills — quarterbacked by Taylor — made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.
That doesn’t mean the Bills were wrong to move on from Taylor. After trading him to Cleveland, the Bills signed AJ McCarron before drafting Josh Allen in the first round. No one knows how either of those two quarterbacks will fare in Buffalo, but the Bills shouldn’t be knocked for dreaming of acquiring a quarterback better than Taylor. It’s just that, partly due to the benching of Taylor for that Week 11 debacle, it felt like the Bills never really did appreciate what they had in Taylor.
Now, Taylor is nothing more than a placeholder in Cleveland as the Browns wait for Mayfield to prove that he’s ready for the NFL. So, even if he plays well and ends another historic playoff drought, Taylor will likely be forced to move on yet again.
“I don’t personally look over my shoulder,” Taylor said. “I can’t control things that are out of my reach, out of my touch. I can control only the things that I do daily — my preparation, my effort, my energy, my execution. But I can’t walk around and lead in the way I’m supposed to if I’m worried or looking over my shoulder.
“Things are going to happen in this league. My job is to stay focused on the job at hand.”