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Fred Davis is clearly the best free agent available at this juncture, but the only two teams who showed interest in signing Davis prior to the report of this dinner were the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns. Chalk up the Bills as a team definitely interest, and they have a really good chance at signing Davis despite being very quiet up until this “loud” moment.

The 27-year-old USC product is, per CSN Washington, ahead of schedule in his rehab following Achilles’ surgery, so that’s great news as teams are wary of his ability to produce following the injury. The Redskins know Davis’s progress better than anyone, but they are still going to be rigid on their asking price. They want to keep Davis in Washington, but they aren’t going to overpay for him.

The Bills have a severely injured tight end of their own in Scott Chandler, who had another solid season in 2012 and is a huge mismatch for teams in the red zone (he is killer against the New England Patriots and their linebackers in coverage). However, Chandler tore his ACL, and some believe his future outlook is bleak as he wasn’t exactly explosive to begin with.

Either way, the Bills don’t have a certain tight end situation, and Davis would be an upgrade anyway. Having a TE pairing of Fred Davis and Scott Chandler would be huge for a team looking for a new quarterback (they have worked out seemingly every QB in this draft), because tight ends are a young quarterback’s best friend.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

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Chandler will hope to return in 2013 in full form, but he will likely be significantly less effective. He isn’t an athletic tight end, so he will need to continue to utilize his hands, strength, and red zone ability to remain effective. Chandler was certainly effective this season and built on a breakthrough 2011 season with six more touchdown receptions in 2012. He also caught a total of 43 passes for 571 yards and averaged 13.3 yards per reception and 38.1 receiving yards per game.

He told the official Buffalo Bills site, “You see guys running and cutting and it’s encouraging. These doctors know what they’re doing now. I think a lot of the onus is on the player now to get out there and bust his butt to get back, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

He also added that he has been moving between Buffalo and his home state of Iowa (he played college ball for the Hawkeyes) during his rehab. I hope the rehab goes well for him and he comes back without missing a beat. Chandler has been one of the feel good stories of the division over the past two seasons, but the firing of Chan Gailey also figures to hurt him almost as much as the ACL tear. The main reason why he was able to find success in Buffalo is because of Gailey’s innovative spread offense, but that’s all gone now.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

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With Chandler on the IR, the Bills will likely be picking up another tight end for depth. Joe Buscaglia tweeted that  Fendi Onobun could be a possibility for the Bills to replenish depth.

Bills head coach Chan Gailey said that the injury “doesn’t look good”, and it is devastating news for the 27-year-old. Chandler is a hard worker who has risen recently to be a big red zone threat for the Bills. Before the injury, he had 43 receptions for 571 yards and six touchdowns in a solid season. He broke out last year to the tune of 38 receptions and six TDs, and he built on last year’s numbers this season.

Hopefully he can make a full recovery, because Chandler might not be the same after the injury. He won’t be set to be a free agent his year, but he will be a free agent after the 2013 season. This makes the injury even worse for him as a player, and it will be interesting to see how the rehabbing process goes and what his injury is exactly. A worst-case scenario has him landing on the PUP list and missing the entire 2013 season before hitting the free agent market in 2014.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.