By Mark Gaughan
Ryan Fitzpatrick might have sacrificed some money -- but probably not a lot -- in rejecting the Buffalo Bills and accepting a two-year contract with the Tennessee Titans.
Fitzpatrick's deal with Tennessee is for $6.5 million, and he will make $3.25 million this year, according to the Nashville Tennessean. The Titans' plan is for Fitzpatrick to back up third-year man Jake Locker.
The Bills offered Fitzpatrick a four-year deal that averaged $3 million a year and included incentives that would have given him the chance to make up to $4 million more a year, according to a source familiar with the talks with Buffalo.
We do not know the breakdown of the offer, how much he could have made the first two years or how hard it would have been to reach the incentives. How likely would it have been for him to play out, say, three of the four years, serving as an entrenched, Alex Van Pelt-like backup? Hard to say.
If Fitzpatrick stayed in Buffalo, then it's not hard to imagine him beating out Tarvaris Jackson and then starting a good chunk of games in place of a rookie QB. It's also not too hard to imagine Fitzpatrick being forced into the lineup in relief of Locker, who is a long way from proving himself as an able starter.
In the end, Fitzpatrick decided his time in Buffalo had run its course. It was time to move on.
Fitzpatrick has made $28 million during his first eight years in the NFL. Perhaps splitting hairs between the offers he got from Buffalo and Tennessee is not too relevant.
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