Ryan Fitzpatrick Contract Discussed In Buddy Nix Prank Call

Well, here's a fun way to start 2013 NFL free agency: two pranksters, with surprisingly little effort, a healthy amount of luck and a head-scratching amount of missed phone calls on the part of our favorite team's football chief, duped Buffalo Bills GM Buddy Nix into a phone conversation with Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM Mark Dominik that was recorded via a second cell phone and subsequently given to Deadspin, who gave it the Deadspin treatment.

Update: The Bills have released a statement on the report. It reads as follows: "We are aware of the report on Deadspin involving a phone conversation with Bills GM Buddy Nix. We have made the league aware of the report and are reviewing it with legal counsel."

So, yeah. Give that a read for the details on said duping as well as the full audio. Be comforted, if you can, by the fact that Nix didn't give away anything earth-shattering on the team's plans. We'll leave it to you to determine how upset (or humored) you are by this whole affair; we're betting Assistant GM Doug Whaley will reach a new level of popularity amongst the fan base in very short order, even though he probably shouldn't. (And those pranksters had better make good use of their scoop money as soon as humanly possible.)

Ironically, the report is newsworthy from a football sense, as Nix spoke plainly about the lingering contract situation with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, saying the following: "He's going to have to do something, or we'll have to." (We suspect that he's referring to a re-structured contract ultimatum, but that's just speculation on our part.)

Nix also says of Fitzpatrick: "We just can't afford to pay that kind of money for a guy who's fighting for probably a backup job."

Also covered in the phone call: the two men's distaste for the new three-day negotiating window, Nix's hesitance to trade away one of his six draft picks, and his reminiscing of a time in San Diego when he had two franchise quarterbacks on hand.

Yikes. Perhaps it's time for the Bills to break some real news, so that this story dies as quickly as possible.