Tyrod Taylor was a pleasant surprise for the Bills last season. He completed 63.7 percent of his throws, had a passer rating of 99.4 and tossed 20 touchdowns against just six interceptions. And now it looks like he could be in line for that raise that better reflects his production.

A source told the Buffalo News' Vic Carucci that the Bills and Taylor's agent are talking "relatively frequently" about a long-term contract extension. And while nothing is considered imminent, a new deal could be in place at some point in the next month or so.

Taylor is set to make $2 million in base salary for 2016, according to Spotrac.com. That ranks 31st among all quarterbacks, just ahead of Blaine Gabbert and Bills teammate EJ Manuel, and behind the likes of Shaun Hill, Matt McGloin and Blake Bortles.

The Bills gave Taylor a three-year deal, $3.5 million deal last offseason, when he hadn't yet made an NFL start and had just 19 career pass attempts during a four-year stint as Joe Flacco's backup in Baltimore. So what kind of pay bump does he have in mind? Carucci says the $18 million-a-year deal Brock Osweiler signed with the Texans this offseason -- after making just seven starts with the Broncos -- could be the template.

In April, Bills general manager Doug Whaley made it clear that the team wanted Taylor.

"We want him to be [in Buffalo long term], he wants to be, and time will tell," Whaley told NFL Network at the time. "But we're excited about what he did last year -- he went 8-6 as a starter. There is a lot of excitement around our football team ..."

Of course, the day before Whaley's comments, Taylor's agent, Adisa Bakari, took to Twitter to make sure everyone was on the same page about why the Bills missed the postseason for the 16th consecutive year.


It appears the Bills have come around to Bakari's thinking. Partly because Taylor is the best quarterback the Bills have had in years, and partly because coach Rex Ryan's (and likely Whaley's) future is tied to getting to the postseason.