The more we discuss the RB early option, the more I am hoping it happens.
First, as far as Singletary's confidence. I think if the front office tells him they are looking for him to take over the Frank Gore role of veteran RB, Devin will view it as an honor. And it is. I hope Singletary has shown he can do the role and the front office gives it to him. Singletary is a lot better than Gore at this point (and better than the Gore of last year). Singletary is also better than any vet RB they could pick up in FA - Hyde, Freeman, etc. And Singletary is cheaper and has many years still left on his first contract. If you view part of this as Singletary replacing Gore it's easy to see this as a vast improvement over last year.
With the early draft pick the Bills can then attempt to find an RB that is better than, or at least equal to, the back they had in Singletary last year. The RB room gets younger, cheaper, and better. It's not just a short term boost, it serves an intermediate/long term goal as well.
We all know that the RB situation is not finished. The best avenue to completing this portion of the roster, as outlined above, is clearly through the draft. If in an incredibly disappointing series of events occur and they are not able to acquire one of the RBs they are targeting, they could then go back into the FA market and pick up one of the vet plodders.
It is my optimistic hoping that the FO has told Clowney to hold on and if things break the way they envision they will have freed up enough money (around 18 mill or so) to have him come aboard. I guy can dream.