‘The bye week allowed the Bills’ front office to make headway on contract talks with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and a deal appears close. Fitzpatrick, in his second season as Buffalo’s starting signal-caller, has provided stability as well as production at the position after a long list of failed players. He’s already sixth on the club’s career touchdown list with 44. Fitzpatrick, whose base salary this year is $3.1 million, is due for a raise into the $10-million per-year range. His contract is up and the Bills do not want to lose him in free agency or have to apply a franchise tag on the Harvard product that would drive the cost up even more. Asked about his contract, Fitzpatrick said he’s trying not to think about it but he’s human. “I can’t just block all that away,” he said. “It’d be something that I’d like to get done and we’ll just see how it progresses here in the next few weeks.”‘