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Many are clamoring for the Bills to find the new face of the franchise, or at the very least, to rid themselves of Ryan Fitzpatrick and his weighty contract. While there are no immediate answers, some of General Manager Buddy Nix's thoughts on the position at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine were interesting to say the least.
It's been quite some time since Nix has addressed his feelings about adding a quarterback through the draft, and there have been some important changes in the meantime. The Bills essentially gave Russ Brandon the keys to the franchise, they've hired a new coach and have a completely different band of assistants.
Nix echoed sentiments time and time again that he would like to add a quarterback in the draft. Has that changed with the aforementioned differences?
"We'll still try to draft a quarterback," he held firmly. "If they're there at the right time and he's the right guy, we'll draft a quarterback. That hasn't changed."
The incoming crop of quarterbacks will be one that the Bills have dissected thoroughly. Nix gave his thoughts on the class in it's entirety.
"There's a good number. There's six or seven of those guys, maybe eight," he said. "All of them have good strong points. The difference in this class is that none of the hype has separated one or two from the rest. They've all got their strong points, but there's not a clear cut. That doesn't mean now that two years from now you wouldn't say, 'We'd really love to take this guy the second pick of the draft, he's that good.' There's one or two every year and there will be out of this group. There will be two or three of these guys, at least a couple, that will separate themselves after they get going and win a lot of games and have a long career."
Over the course of the next two months, the Bills have their hands full in deciding, essentially, the future of their franchise. If they take a quarterback in the first round, it would be the first time since the team drafted J.P. Losman out of Tulane. Knowing that there is still some time, Nix left himself some breathing room with that first round pick.
However, with other quarterback-needy teams out there, sometimes hands can be forced.
"That's what people do and I'll tell you, it keeps you up at night and adds a lot of grey hair," Nix said. "But I'll say this: If we're not convinced that a guy can be the man, the need won't make us take him. We won't take him at 8."
Nix went on to say, when asked about these prospects individually, that he believes the arm strength of Syracuse's Ryan Nassib, USC's Matt Barkley and Arkansas' Tyler Wilson are strong enough.
With Ryan Fitzpatrick's future still uncertain at this point, the Bills GM kept it short when asked about their starter for the past three seasons.
"He's a member of our football team, and if anything changes with Ryan, he'll be the first to know," Nix said.
Just as Bills Team President Russ Brandon said earlier in the day Thursday, the team has yet to talk about whether or not to restructure Fitzpatrick's contract.
"If there's any plan like that, we'll tell Ryan first," Nix said. "That's who we'd talk to about if that is the case."
To end the interview, Nix was asked point blank that if he had to say today, would Fitzpatrick be on the roster at the start of training camp?
"I wouldn't say that at all," he replied, implying that it wasn't a call he's willing to make right now. "I'd say that I'd talk to Fitz."
Just as the day started, the ambiguity surrounding the Bills future at quarterback remains. And perhaps that's just how they want it.
To listen to the entire interview, click play below:
To listen to the entire interview, click play below:
Twitter: @JoeBuscaglia