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Rex has an uphill battle in Buffalo at quarterback. (USATSI)
Following the first day of the combine, Jason La Canfora pointed out the possibility of Josh McCown being the biggest domino in the quarterback free-agent market. McCown signed with the Browns on Friday night and it's already proving JLC correct. All you have to do is look at the Bills.
Rex Ryan's Buffalo team was in hot pursuit of McCown as well this offseason, trying to sign the former Buccaneers quarterback as a veteran to pair with former first-round pick EJ Manuel. Now the Bills are left hanging and will need to figure out a new option.
The pickings are quite slim. Let's look at the Bills' five best options.
1. Mark Sanchez: Rex's old flame is available as a free agent after an up-and-down year with the Eagles. At times (his first start against the Panthers) it looked like Chip Kelly turned Sanchez into an above-average quarterback. At other times (a two-week stretch against the Seahawks and Cowboys in December) Sanchez struggled badly. We know Sanchez can be a game-manager type in Ryan's run-heavy offense, but would investing significant money in a guy he's failed with before shorten Rex's leash too much? The Bills probably want to fit the player to Greg Roman's offense as well.
In truly terrifying news, he's probably their best, most realistic option.
2. Jake Locker: Is he the second-best quarterback available in free agency? I'd tell you to check out Pete Prisco's Top 50 Free Agent list but you won't find Locker's name (or Sanchez's). Were it not for Rex's connection to Sanchez, you could argue Locker should be higher on this list. He's a younger (26) version of Sanchez with more health concerns but a greater amount of upside. Locker has an incredibly strong arm but has just a career 57.5 percent completion percentage, showcasing a lack of growth in accuracy from college to the pros. He never played in more than 11 games in his four years with the Titans.
3. Brian Hoyer: You're not finding his name on a free-agent list either and my goodness the free-agent quarterback class is terrible. Hoyer's a nice blend of Sanchez and Locker, we guess. He doesn't have a strong arm, but he has a decent amount of athleticism and could potentially prop up an offense as a game manager provided there was a defense capable of carrying games. Hoyer stunk with the Browns for most of last year despite the win totals early but he was working with a complete lack of weapons. Buffalo would be an upgrade personnel wise.
4. Brett Hundley: YIKES. At this point, Rex could be looking around and saying "This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful truck. How did I get here?" Hundley's a really nice prospect insofar as a project goes, but he's certainly not considered a step-in-and-win guy. He has all the traits of a quarterback physically, but he didn't exactly run a pro-style offense while at UCLA. His accuracy, ability to read defenses and pocket presence would make this an adventure. It's really more indicative of two things. One, this is a bad quarterback class in the draft. You can't just hope to snag someone in the middle rounds and have them make a difference in year one. And two, the Bills don't have a first-round pick as a result of trading up to grab Sammy Watkins last year. Even if they wanted to get in on the Marcus Mariota sweepstakes they couldn't.
5. Jay Cutler: The semi-nuclear option, one which doesn't seem that crazy when you think about it. Cutler's deal is a nightmare, but he wouldn't cost anything in a trade. New Bears GM Ryan Pace would probably part ways with the often-disgruntled gunslinger for a pittance to get that deal off the books. Cutler's biggest on-field problems -- interceptions -- are still a concern, but in Rex's ground-and-pound offense, he could be covered up to a large degree. Run the ball, play great defense and let Cutler wing it down the field to Watkins, Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin. Cutler's full $15.5 million salary in 2015 is already guaranteed. With $10 million of Cutler's 2016 salary becoming guaranteed on the third day of the league year this March, trading for the former first-round pick is is far from a play for the meek and mild. But Rex is nothing but bold and Terry Pegula's shown a penchant for big moves as well.
So, yeah, the options are quite limited. Michael Vick is out there as well, but it's hard to imagine Rex bringing him back after Vick showed up completely unprepared for a game with the Jets last year. Rex was giving it his all down the stretch no matter how dire things got; he's got to expect the same out of his guys, right?
And maybe Roman falls in love with Manuel or devises a system to fit the former first-round pick. The Bills still have a lot invested in the ex-Florida State star. Maybe they try and make him do his best 2009/10 Sanchize impression.
However it shakes out, the Bills are in an uphill battle to find a starting-caliber quarterback for 2015.
Josh McCown signing with Browns puts Bills in tough spot at QB - CBSSports.com
