I'm a Bills fan and he had similar issues in Buffalo with disagreement with doctors. In Buffalo, it was plantar fascitis which is very treatable. However, Byrd suffered from the malady for 2 years and it flared up when he was unhappy with his contract status.

It first started on the last year of his contract and was an issue throughout camp. It was suspected by many fans that he did have a problem, but his exuberance to get back was affected by the Bills not offering as much money as he wanted in a contract extension.

The next year when the Bills tagged him he had another case of flare up of plantar fascitis. Given his wealth, the resources available to him medically, and the nature of PF...it strained belief that the condition was serious enough to prevent him from playing.

Keep in mind, Byrd maintained that he was not "holding out" and it was a medical reason that he wasn't playing.

We had endless debates about whether it was real. There was no real way to know. Byrd wasn't treated by team doctors and his treatment went through a personal physician. There were leaks that the Bills may have disagreed on the severity of the issue.

He came back in time for the season to count (a couple games early even) and signed with the Saints the next offseason.

The Bills had no chance of signing him. They offered him a contract that would have put in the top 5, but he maintained that he wanted to be the highest paid.

Byrd was not shy about talking about his situation and that he had to take of himself and wasn't willing to take risks with his health that could impact his life or earning potential.

In short, Byrd is a mercenary. I'd be willing to wager if the Saints came up with some guaranteed money to restructure, he'd feel much healthier.