A report on Monday indicated that the Bills will cut third-year quarterback EJ Manuel unless they see “serious progress” from a quarterback who was benched four games into last season in favor of Kyle Orton.
On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Greg Roman did his best to throw cold water on such notions. Vic Carucci and Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News report that Roman shot down the idea that the team is already thinking about cutting Manuel and that speculation that the coaching staff has given up on him is the “furthest thing from the truth.”
Roman also said that the quarterback job was open to “anybody” and that he has an idea about who will be No. 1 after offseason work, but wasn’t willing to share his thoughts on that front.
Manuel, who got a vote of support from former Bills great Jim Kelly on NFL Network this week, will be competing with Matt Cassell, Tyrod Taylor and Jeff Tuel for spots on the team’s depth chart this summer. If he winds up fourth best on that list, he may still wind up getting released, but it seems the Bills will actually let things play out for a while before coming to any conclusions about Manuel’s future in Buffalo.