Tyrod Taylor's surgery might be latest indication he and Bills are headed for split

Once the Buffalo Bills were out of playoff contention, team higher-ups decided to bench Tyrod Taylor in the season finale (a decision that, according to Rex Ryan, played a role in his split from the Bills). Taylor’s 2017 salary is currently guaranteed only for injury, so sitting Taylor was protection against him getting hurt.

Except, he was already nursing an injury, and on Thursday, Taylor made the decision to get it fixed – a decision that doesn’t appear to have gone over well with the Bills.

On Thursday morning, Taylor posted a story to his Snapchat account indicating he was headed into surgery, and a short time later, the Bills released a statement saying Taylor basically sprung his decision on them on Wednesday:

Bills QB Tyrod Taylor had a consultation visit yesterday with Dr. William Meyers and elected to have surgery this morning. The Bills were informed late yesterday of this morning’s procedure.

But this, not surprisingly, seems to be a case of spin by the Bills. The Buffalo News’ Vic Carucci reported last week that Taylor had been fighting through a “severe” groin injury for a month, and that the quarterback would be traveling to Philadelphia “in the near future” to determine whether he needed surgery.

Did Buffalo’s medical team not know Taylor had been hurting for a month? Did they not know Taylor might need surgery to fix it? Or do they want the public to believe this came out of nowhere? Not many players, or anyone really, would opt to have surgery unless they had to have it.

Of course, this goes back to the exact reason the Bills opted to bench Taylor for Week 17: money. Just as Buffalo made a business decision, Taylor did too; whether he’s with the Bills or another team next season, he wants to be healthy.

But there’s also this: if Taylor can’t pass a team physical by March 11, the Bills are on the hook for his 2017 salary.

Carucci also tweeted last week that Taylor pulled him aside to tell him he wants to stay in Buffalo:

Ryan hand-picked Taylor to be his starter when he was hired by Buffalo less than two years ago; the Bills won 15 games with Taylor at quarterback, the best two-year total any Bills’ quarterback has had since Drew Bledsoe in 2003-04.

But while Buffalo wants to paint this situation one way, the team could have a fight on its hands.

The MMQB’s Albert Breer outlined the predicament, saying that if Buffalo were to release Taylor before he’s healthy, the NFL Players’ Association would argue that he’s entitled to his money for 2017 – a $15.5 million option bonus, the dispersion of which triggers the guarantee of his $12 million base salary.