NFL free agency is a prime time for general managers to wheel and deal and discuss players and that is exactly what Buffalo Bills GM Buddy Nix and Tampa Bay's Mark Dominik did on Tuesday, although they didn't realize the call was set up by pranksters.
According to Deadspin.com, two 20-year-olds set up the call between the two general managers and then listened in and recorded it for about six minutes. The report says that they called the Buffalo front office as Dominik looking for Nix and later when he kept calling back, they reached Dominik and conferenced the call and listened in.
The two executives spoke about possible trades, the new free agency rules, as well as how agents can drive up the price of players with the new free agent window.
The confusion set aside quickly, as Nix said "I've called you back a hundred times!" with Dominik saying it was a wrong number and that he would have gotten back to him "in a heartbeat. I wouldn't mess around with that."
The two spoke about quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and Nix may have tipped his hand, saying that he has a struggling player, but there is a lot of money tied up in him, meaning they probably can't move him.
"We're still struggling here with our quarterback...We're not really struggling--he's going to have to do something, or we'll have to," he said. "We just can't afford to pay that kind of money for a guy who's fighting for probably a backup job."
The two also spoke about drafting quarterbacks and about Colts GM Ryan Grigson, with Dominik saying: "Look, you got the best gig in the National Football League. I mean, you got a quarterback the first pick, you're a genius for 10 years now."
CLICK here for the AUDIO of the calls.
The Bills later responded to the calls to the website, writing: "We are aware of the report on Deadspin involving a phone conversation with Bills GM Buddy Nix. We have made the league aware of the report and are reviewing it with legal counsel."
Nix had previously been coy about Fitzpatrick at the combine, saying that there was a chance the team would try to restructure his deal. The quarterback is set to make a $3 million roster bonus and the Bills would like to open up some salary cap space before the league year begins.
"Any talking, I'll do with him," Nix said to reporters at the time.
The Bills could decide to try and trade Fitzpatrick for draft picks or another quarterback to have compete with Jackson, including names like Tim Tebow, Carson Palmer or Matt Cassel with the Kansas City Chiefs, who acquired Alex Smith from the 49ers and now have a backup that is expendable.
The Bills have been stuck in the bottom of the AFC East for a number of years and finished 6-10 last season, the same record as the New York Jets. Fitzpatrick led the team with 3,400 yards and 24 touchdowns, but he also had 16 interceptions while the team ranked 25th in passing offense.
