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Greg Roman says Bills won’t cut E.J. Manuel

By Nathaniel Reeves

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The Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator tries to refute an earlier report regarding quarterback E.J. Manuel.

Earlier in the week, a report surfaced that the Buffalo Bills would release quarterback E.J. Manuel if he didn’t show significant progress this summer. While Manuel has not been an NFL-caliber starting quarterback through the 15 games of his career, the notion that Buffalo could cut him two years after being drafted still came as a surprise.

On Tuesday, new Bills offensive coordinator Greg Roman denied those reports, according to Vic Carucci and Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News.

"Roman shoots down speculation that EJ Manuel could be cut in training camp if he doesn’t show progress."

That might not clear the situation up much, as Roman wouldn’t come right out and say they were considering releasing a player. Still, Roman’s comments largely make sense from the team’s perspective.

Manuel has struggled in his first two years in the NFL, completing 58.6 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. For a No. 16 overall pick, starting just 15 games in two seasons with that level of production isn’t good enough.

Of course, it should be noted that Manuel shouldn’t have been selected 16th overall in the first place. The Bills were desperate for a quarterback and made Manuel the first off the board in a very weak draft class. There’s still some raw physical potential for Manuel, but his career outlook doesn’t look good.

The Bills are a talented team and can’t afford to trot Manuel out to see if he has anything to offer, leading Buffalo to add Matt Cassel over the offseason. Much like Kyle Orton last year, Cassel should at least provide competent performances and keep Buffalo competitive.

While Manuel is a longshot to start, it would take quite a lot for him to actually get cut. Finishing fourth on the depth chart after camp would get Manuel cut, but he should be able to beat out one of Tyrod Taylor or Jeff Tuel. If Manuel looks worse than those guys in the preseason, he doesn’t have much of an NFL future anyway.

Keeping a backup with at least some upside like Manuel doesn’t hurt the Bills at all, so expect to see him on the Buffalo sideline this season.

H/T Pro Football Talk. 

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