By Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page Columnist

No. 56: March 14, 2018 – The Bills trade Tyrod Taylor to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a third-round draft choice in 2018.

No one can say that Tyrod Taylor has had a conventional career path. He came out of Virginia Tech as a sixth-round draft choice by Baltimore in 2011, and the quarterback won a roster spot – but not much playing time. In four seasons, he threw 36 passes for the Ravens.

When Taylor had the chance as a free agent, he signed with the Bills in 2015 and surprised almost everyone by winning the starting job in training camp. What’s more, Rex Ryan clearly picked the right guy, considering the competition. Taylor didn’t make many mistakes and was a terrific running threat out of the backfield.

In Year Three, Taylor was the quarterback when the Bills made the playoffs for the first time in the 21st century. He’ll always be fondly remembered for that. The new coaching staff didn’t think he was the long-term answer, so Taylor was dealt to the Browns for a draft pick. The deal represents the turning of a page from Taylor to Josh Allen. Meanwhile, Taylor didn’t last long in Cleveland, and will spend 2019 working for the Los Angeles Chargers.

(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)

Budd Bailey

Budd Bailey has been involved in almost every aspect of the local sports scene for the last 40 years. He worked for WEBR Radio, the Buffalo Sabres' public relations department and The Buffalo News during that time. In that time he covered virtually every aspect of the area's sports world, from high schools to the Bills and Sabres and everything in between. Along the way, Budd served as a play-by-play announcer for the Bisons, an analyst for the Stallions, and a talk-show host. He won the National Lacrosse League's Tom Borrelli Award as the media personality of the year in 2011, and was a finalist for that same award in 2017. Budd's seventh and eighth books, one on the Transcontinental Railroad and the other about Ichiro Suzuki, are scheduled to be released in the fall.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *