Rodney McKissic at The Buffalo News is reporting that the Buffalo Bills and the representatives for Stevie Johnson have exchanged contract proposals within the past week, and that negotiations could continue face-to-face at next week's NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

McKissic reports that C.J. LaBoy, Johnson's agent, submitted a counter-offer on Monday to a proposal that the team made more than a week ago today. The exchanged proposals are presumably the first the two sides have had since prior to the start of the 2011 regular season; the Bills tried to re-open negotiations after signing Ryan Fitzpatrick, but Johnson decided to wait until after the season.

As we mentioned earlier this week, the Bills have advantages in retaining Johnson's services - and that's without mentioning the franchise tag. Clearly, both sides would like to get a long-term deal reached, however, as the franchise tag isn't the best option for either side. It appears that progress is being made toward that end.