Robert Woods Contract: Latest News, Rumors on WR's Negotiations with Bills

The Buffalo Bills are planning to make a concerted effort to keep wide receiver Robert Woods, a pending unrestricted free agent, on the team for 2017 and beyond. 

Continue for updates.

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Bills Place Emphasis on Re-Signing Woods

Friday, Dec. 23

Sal Capaccio of WGR passed along comments Friday from Bills general manager Doug Whaley, who called Woods' situation the team's main offseason task.

"He's a competitor and draft pick of ours," Whaley said. "We know him, so he will be at the top of our (priority) list."

Woods told Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News on Wednesday that he hadn't spent much time thinking about his potential trip into the free-agent market.

"The biggest part of not looking ahead to the future is just being caught up in the moment right now," he said. "The only thing that can affect my future is handling what I'm doing right now. That allows me to focus on the moment and just attack it. Be more locked in because it also sets up the future."

Woods added: "I love it here. I love playing here. This team, this organization, I want to be a part of the turnaround. I've been here for four years. It's my first NFL city, I want to be a part of its success."

Whether staying in Buffalo is Woods' best career move is up for debate, though.

The 24-year-old wideout is vastly underutilized in the Bills' run-oriented attack. He's caught just 44 passes for 527 yards and one touchdown across 11 games so far this season. In all, he's tallied 196 catches and 12 TDs in nearly four years since the organization used a 2013 second-round pick on him.

Woods has all the tools to become a far more involved possession receiver elsewhere. His best option could be signing a two-year deal with a pass-first team to showcase his talent, something he hasn't been able to do in Buffalo, and set himself up for a bigger contract down the line.

The Indianapolis Colts immediately come to mind as an ideal fit. Andrew Luck has a myriad of big-play weapons at his disposal. Picking up somebody like Woods, with a skill set built more around moving the chains, could take the team's aerial attack to another level.

That said, it sounds like the Bills' front office is going to make every effort to keep Woods. The team's inability to keep its own draft picks and maximize their talent during their peak seasons is a major reason for a playoff drought that's likely to officially reach 17 years over the next few weeks.