Buffalo Bills taking major gamble not picking up Sammy Watkins option
When you are in the midst of a 19 year playoff drought, sometimes, you just have to take a major gamble or two to try and get yourself back to relevance. While the move has split the opinion of Bills nation, Buffalo has decided not to pick up the fifth year option on Sammy Watkins rookie contract, making him a free agent after the 2017 season.
This move is a major gamble for the team considering that Sammy Watkins is still the number one receiver in the Bills offense. Truthfully, it’s not even close at this stage. Without Watkins, the Bills offense is likely to struggle without a suitable replacement. So why would the team choose to not pickup such an important player’s contract option?
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While only the team really knows the reasoning, I would speculate that it has to do with Watkins’ injury history. Considering that he has missed chunks of time over the last couple of years due to injuries, the Bills may look to be covering themselves from any potential injury this season. Though a productive player, Watkins has yet to find himself as a consistent player on the field.
That said, let’s take a quick look at the receivers likely to make the Bills roster this season. Corey “Philly” Brown, Jeremy Butler, Zay Jones, Andre Holmes, Walter Powell, Brandon Tate, and Sammy Watkins make up the team’s likely 2017 corps. While this could change, I don’t see another potential number one receiver on this list outside of Sammy. Heck, the biggest battle could be between Corey Brown and Zay Jones for the number two receiver spot.
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While Jones may have the potential to one day be the number one receiver for the Bills, he doesn’t have the same intangibles that Watkins does. Moving on from Watkins would open a major hole in the team’s offense that could only be fixed by adding an extremely talented and fast wide receiver in next year’s NFL Draft.
Overall, this is a major, major gamble for the Buffalo Bills. If Watkins continues to be plagued by injuries then the move will payoff for the team. If Watkins has an All-Pro type of campaign then the price on his head will have gone through the roof, costing the Bills in salary cap dollars for next season. No matter what happens though, the Bills may need to start planning for life without Sammy Watkins.
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