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The Buffalo Bills are closing in on signing another quarterback, and his name is Kevin Kolb. That per ESPN's Adam Schefter, who had the story first. Adam Caplan reports that the agreement is a two-year deal worth up to $13 million with playing time and performance incentives; it'll be interesting to see the breakdown of exactly how much that $13 million isn't incentives.
Additionally, Schefter reports that the Bills put the full-court press on Kolb, spending time with him last weekend and hosting him at One Bills Drive on Thursday and Friday (in impressively under-the-radar fashion, to boot).
Kolb, 28, is a seventh-year pro that spent the last two seasons as the nominal starter for the Arizona Cardinals, even though he only appeared in 15 games in that stretch (58.5 percent completions, 3,124 yards, 17 touchdowns, 11 interceptions). He was released two weeks ago largely in a salary cap move - much like departed Bills starter Ryan Fitzpatrick - but was clearly not going to be in his former team's long-term plans with a new GM and head coach in the desert.
A second-round pick out of Houston in 2007, Kolb - who spent his first five seasons as a backup (and very short-lived starter) with the Philadelphia Eagles - has 21 career starts under his belt, with the Eagles and Cardinals a combined 9-12 in those contests. He gives the Bills more upside at quarterback than Tarvaris Jackson, the man with whom he'll likely be competing for a starting job. He may ultimately wind up being a better system fit for the Doug Marrone and Nathaniel Hackett offense than Jackson, as well.
Bottom line: as long as the Bills don't change their quarterback-drafting plans with this move (and haven't handed out a ridiculous amount of money, which seems unlikely given their frugality to this point), there's some sense to be found in this signing. We'll have more detail to chew on as the detail is made available; until then, the comments section is yours in which to rejoice, to rant or to shoulder-shrug.