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NFL teams can apply franchise and transition tags to players starting today, which will put Jairus Byrd back into the forefront of Buffalo Bills conversations for the next two weeks.
Byrd, you'll recall, spent the 2013 season on the franchise tag, which netted him $6.916 million, and netted the Bills his absence from training camp and a plantar fasciitis issue that cost him the first five games of the regular season. If the Bills and Byrd are looking to avoid a similar fate this spring, they have the next two weeks to work out a long-term contract extension.
With the 2014 NFL Combine kicking off this week in Indianapolis, lasting from this Wednesday through next Tuesday, the Bills will have an excellent opportunity to meet with Byrd's agent, Eugene Parker, to begin or continue contract discussions. They did the same a year ago, for what it's worth.
If the Bills and Byrd can't reach a long-term agreement in the next two weeks, they have until 4PM ET on Monday, March 3 to apply the franchise tag - which they will almost certainly do if it comes to that, even if it's only for the purposes of retaining his rights as they explore a trade.
You can catch up on the year-long Byrd contract saga in our StoryStream dedicated to the topic.
