Dan Pompei of the National Football Post reports that the Buffalo Bills took an unusual step in evaluating quarterback Vince Young prior to signing him to a one-year, $2 million contract last week.

"One of the reasons the Bills were sold on Vince Young is they took the unusual step of putting him on the board for a couple of hours when he visited their facility," Pompei wrote on Sunday.

By "on the board," for those curious, Pompei means that Chan Gailey and the Bills had Young explain concepts and design plays on a white board, much like you see rookie quarterbacks do with Jon Gruden and Steve Mariucci each year prior to the NFL Draft. As Pompei explains, this is commonplace for rookies, but it's a very unusual step for veteran players as they talk with teams about jobs.

Clearly, Young did well enough in the classroom to keep Gailey and GM Buddy Nix impressed enough after his workout to get his shot at the backup quarterback job in Buffalo. It's somewhat reassuring, however - and perhaps it's just me feeling this way - to know that the Bills did a little extra homework before taking Young on.