The Bills made headlines when they made the decision not to use their franchise tag on their three time pro bowl safety Jarius Byrd. Since becoming a free agent, Byrd has agreed to a six-year deal worth $54 million with the New Orleans Saints. The average is nine million dollars a year, which is the same price that would have cost the Bills to franchise tag him. The franchise tag is a one year contract that teams are allowed to use on any of their pending free agents. However, it is normally reserved for the top players because it pays them around what the top tier of players at their respective position make. While many people around the league thought that the Bills were all but certain to use the franchise tag on Byrd, there’s a reason why they didn’t. The flaw with Byrd is that he is slow; his 40-yard dash time is a 4.68, compared to the Bills’ safety Aaron Williams who runs a 4.55. There were only two defensive backs in this year’s combine that had slower times than Byrd. Plus Byrd does have the ability to intercept the ball although he does run the risk of interfering with a game changing pass interference call. In his career (all with the Bills) he has recorded 9, 1, 3, 5, and 4 interferences per season. That’s an average of 4.4 a year, which is good, but his interceptions are a bit a of a fluke. In 2013, three of his interceptions were on poorly thrown balls with him being in the right place at the right time. Sub him out with an average safety in the league and you get one less interception, same tackling ability, and 4 million dollars. The question is, is five million dollars worth one interception. The Bills front office didn’t think so. If a team is smart they would go deep on man coverage against Byrd every time and have big plays after big plays. This strategy would make Byrd unworthy of the franchise tag and the money he’s making, there’s a good bet that he will be released before his contract is up. The Bills are better off investing the money into two solid players as oppose to one big player like Byrd.
