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We are now less than four weeks (27 days) away from a July 15 deadline for NFL teams to sign their franchise tagged players to long-term deals. According to a report from Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the Buffalo Bills and free safety Jairus Byrd have yet to make much progress on that front.
"There hasn't been any real movement in these talks, according to sources, so based on that alone one might not be optimistic," La Canfora wrote earlier this afternoon.
La Canfora did, however, rate Byrd as the second-most likely franchised player to strike a long-term deal - trailing only Anthony Spencer of Dallas - citing the Bills' $18.7 million in cap space and urgent need for a new front office and coaching staff to get off to a strong start by keeping their top talent as rationale for a deal getting done.
As ESPN business analyst Andrew Brandt is wont to say, deadlines spur action - and as that July 15 deadline approaches, we're certain to see movement on the negotiations between the Bills and Byrd's agent, Eugene Parker. Whether or not the two sides get started soon enough to strike a long-term deal remains to be seen.