The Buffalo Bills lost their starting quarterback Kyle Orton, who abruptly announced his retirement on Monday. Orton’s departure leaves the Bills short-handed with quarterbacks E.J. Manuel and Jeff Tuel on the roster.
When asked about second-year quarterback E.J. Manuel, general manager Doug Whaley called the selection of Manuel “a Buffalo Bills pick” (via NFL.com).
I wouldn’t say it was a failure. His career is not over. It’s just getting started. So that’s how I feel about it.
We’ll leave all of our options open for acquiring a quarterback. We don’t want to put ourselves in a corner and show our hand
Whaley didn’t exactly back Manuel, who they spent a precious first-round draft pick on in 2013. It’s been weeks since we’ve even seen Manuel in action while the team relied upon veteran Orton to lead the team. This seems to indicate that all signs would point to the Bills trading for a veteran.
Additionally, they will surely focus their sights on a quarterback in the 2015 NFL draft. Unfortunately, the team exhausted next year’s first-round pick when trading up for Sammy Watkins this past May.