The Buffalo Bills are looking to sign Josh McCown following his release from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he likely will take over at quarterback for Rex Ryan over EJ Manuel and that means Mark Sanchez, Brian Hoyer and Jake Locker will be out of the mix and they could be potential targets for the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets or Tennessee Titans.
The Bills hired Ryan following his dismissal from the NY Jets and now he takes over for Doug Marrone, who left due to an opt out in his contract. Ryan was confident in his opening press conference, saying that he feels the Bills are a playoff team and now they could have their next quarterback. According to Pro Football Talk, Adam Schefter at ESPN.com reports that the Bills are meeting with McCown and they hope to get him to agree to a deal this week.
McCown was released last week and immediately Pro Football Talk and other websites identified potential landing spots in New York, Buffalo and Cleveland. The website writes that McCown could have waited to see what other teams could be interested following the scouting combine coming up, but if Buffalo is giving him a chance to start, he could jump at that opportunity. Mark Sanchez has been mentioned as an option in Buffalo to reunite with Ryan, but if that doesn't happen, he could be a target for the Cleveland Browns with Brian Hoyer on the market.
The defense was one of the best in football last season and they should be able to stay at that level with Ryan taking over. Ryan brought in Greg Roman to be the offensive coordinator and he comes in after a disappointing season in San Francisco. The personnel in Buffalo should be good for Roman, as he has young players like Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, while Fred Jackson is an underrated running back.
Some have argued that with a better quarterback the Bills could have been a playoff team and that is what ownership is hoping will happen by bringing Ryan in. McCown may not be the true answer, but if he plays more like he did two years ago rather than last season, he will be an upgrade over Kyle Orton. Manuel needs more time to develop and McCown or another veteran could serve as a bridge quarterback until he is ready. Ryan can also use that time to try and find his own young quarterback to develop after Marrone was coach when Manuel was drafted.
CJ Spiller is a free agent and there is a chance he may not return to Buffalo after dealing with a collarbone injury. Spiller missed most of the season and reports have the Jets as one of the teams interested in signing him as a free agency. The Jets brought in Chan Gailey to run their offense and when he was head coach of the Bills a few years ago, he coached Spiller to the best season of his career. The team just got rid of Chris Johnson and could look at Spiller as a replacement.
