Tyrod Taylor medically cleared, putting $27.5 million decision in Bills' hands

Taylor has a roster bonus due in March and his contract contains an injury guarantee

Back in December, Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor visited a specialist that determined Taylor needed surgery to fix his injured groin. At the time, we noted that it was important for Buffalo that Taylor get the surgery as soon as possible, because he is due a huge roster bonus on March 11, and if the Bills want to cut ties with him (as is expected), he needs to pass a physical by that date. 

Apparently, he has now passed that physical. Per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter, Taylor has been medically cleared by the Bills. 

Bills' Tyrod Taylor, who has $27.5M option bonus due March 11, has been medically cleared from last month’s groin surgery, per team source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 22, 2017

Taylor currently has a cap hit of approximately $15.9 million for the 2017 season, per Spotrac, but only around $2.85 million of it is guaranteed. If he is still on Buffalo’s roster after March 11, though, he is due a $15.5 million roster bonus, and $12 million of his 2017 base salary and $3.25 million of his 2018 base salary become guaranteed. 

The Bills are widely expected to release Taylor instead of paying out that money, and getting him medically cleared was an important step in being able to do that, because his contract contains an injury guarantee.