BY DAN BEGNOCHE
Bills general manager Buddy Nix has number of decisions that need to be made regarding contracts come next year. Seventeen to be exact.
That’s the amount of player free agents the Bills have to handle going into the 2012 season, according to the team's website.
Nix said he would meet with the media Jan. 9 to discuss his decisions regarding players and staff, and that he would be taking this week to speak with everyone and cover all bases.
“We’re meeting with the players right now one at a time,” Nix said Tuesday. “(Wednesday) I’ll be with the coaches. Coach Gailey and I will meet and then we’re going to have personnel meetings that will last probably two days. I’ll hear from the pro department and the college scouts. We’ll cover every phase of things and then end up with my annual meeting with Mr. Wilson.”
The most talked about Bills free agent who has yet to ink a deal is wide receiver Stevie Johnson, who didn’t help his cause last weekend with his end-zone shenanigans and subsequent benching. Despite his questionable decisions after the whistle has blown, Johnson had a solid season offensively, tallying more than 1,000 yards for the second year in a row. While the front office may not be happy with his attitude, his chemistry with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is indisputable.
On that same note, tight end Scott Chandler will also be vying for a new contract, having emerged as a force for the Bills offense this season, amassing nearly 400 yards of offense and six touchdowns. Chandler was extremely effective in the red zone, though he missed the remaining three of four games of the season due to injury. Both he and Johnson will be looking for bigger paychecks in 2012, as Chandler made just over $1 million and Johnson half of that at $550,000.
Other notable free agents include place kicker Rian Lindell, who left midway through the season with injury, wide receiver Roscoe Parrish, who spent the year on IR, tackle Demetrius Bell and linebacker Reggie Torbor. Guards Kraig Urbik and Chad Rinehart and long snapper Garrison Sanborn are restricted free agents.
Also, in the midst of it all stands running back Fred Jackson, who has been looking to extend his contract, which isn't up until the end of the 2012 season. According to the Bills' website, Jackson has been in contact with Nix regarding his contract, but nothing has been put on paper yet. Nix's decision to re-sign Jackson before his contract is up may come down to the number of offensive players looking for contracts currently (9), or that Jackson spent half the season out with injury.
“There’s a lot that has to be taken care of but we know that it’s usually like that at the end of every season,” Jackson told the media this week. “So hopefully we get as many guys back as possible on offense because we felt like we were able to do some good things so we’ll see what happens.”
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