Report: Bills owners remorseful about forcing Lynn to bench Taylor

Buffalo Bills ownership appears to be regretting the curious way in which the quarterback situation was handled to close out the season.

The Pegula family was remorseful to interim head coach Anthony Lynn for having him bench Tyrod Taylor in Week 17, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports.

With the Bills having the flexibility to cut ties with Taylor and the majority of his contract extension, keeping him on the sidelines was a move designed to avoid significant guarantees that would be locked in if an injury kept him on the roster into March.

The regular-season finale just so happened to be Lynn's first and only opportunity to step in for Rex Ryan, though, so he was forced to make his case for lead jobs with the Bills and elsewhere around the league with EJ Manuel at quarterback.

A disastrous performance from the former first-round pick eventually led to his benching in favor of Cardale Jones and an eventual 30-10 defeat that saw the Bills finish the year 7-9.

It's unclear whether the reported remorse can be taken as a sign that Taylor may still have a future in Buffalo, but Rapoport adds that Lynn likes the dynamic young quarterback.

Taylor completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 3,023 yards, 17 touchdowns, and six touchdowns in his second season as a full-time starter, adding another 580 yards and six scores on the ground.

Moving on from the 27-year-old would result in the Bills targeting a new starter either on the free-agent market or with the No. 10 overall pick in April's draft.