The Buffalo Bills hired Rick Dennison as their new offensive coordinator, something that could be a positive indicator for Tyrod Taylor‘s future with them.
After a few quick hires, the Buffalo Bills took their time on deciding on a candidate for their open offensive coordinator slot. While some fans speculated that the hold-up on the hire was because the person they were targeting was still in the playoffs with their respective team, the Bills would end up hiring Rick Dennison, who was most recently the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos.
Some of Dennison’s past roles indicate that Tyrod Taylor’s job in Buffalo could be safe this season, a bit of a discourse from what the team has seemed to indicate as of late. The Bills owe Taylor a fair chunk of change this next season if they keep him on the roster, and could potentially look to other options both in free agency and the NFL Draft.
That said, the Dennison hire makes it seem like the Bills will roll with Taylor from here on out.
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Shortly after the hire, fans and Bills media members on Twitter were quick to point out that Taylor and Dennison have crossed paths before, and not just once. As pointed out by John Wawrow, Bills reporter for the Associated Press, Dennison’s final season as a quarterback coach with the Baltimore Ravens was spent with Taylor, and there was also talk between Wawrow and another user about how when Taylor was signing with the Bills, the Denver Broncos — who Dennison was then employed with as an offensive coordinator — showed interest in Taylor joining their team.
What this all seems to indicate is that with the hire, the Bills are possibly shifting mindsets and looking to keep Taylor. Bringing in an offensive coordinator that Taylor is familiar with seems to be a sign of his safety with the team.
At the same time, this can also be looked at as purely coincidental, and in all reality, at this point that’s all we can surely say. Dennison, although he worked with all quarterbacks on the Ravens roster in the 2014 season that Taylor was on the team, didn’t spend a lot of time watching Taylor play in real game situations and coaching him through that. In fact, Taylor only played one game (and one quarter, at that) with Dennison as his coach.
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While it is true that the Broncos had some rumored interest in Taylor the season that he ended up signing with the Bills, that doesn’t seem like something to attribute fully to Dennison, as the Broncos’ head coach Gary Kubiak also spent time with Taylor in Baltimore.
And, after all, the Broncos didn’t end up going too hard after Taylor, as they let him walk to the Bills. The Broncos were also going to use Taylor as a backup, meaning that there wasn’t too much interest in him as the main cog of a team’s offense, like he would be relied on if he were to be kept in Buffalo.
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The connections are fun to make and think about in relation to Taylor staying with the Bills, but It seems like connecting a former quarterback coach to a second-string quarterback of his (for just one season) is a bit of a stretch.