Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan is confident with Tyrod Taylor as the present starting quarterback but believes EJ Manuel can be the future of the franchise.
According to Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News, Ryan explained why that feeling led the Bills to trade backup gunslinger Matt Cassel to the Dallas Cowboys.
“We feel we have the quarterbacks of the present and the future in Tyrod Taylor and EJ Manuel. How we feel about EJ Manuel is why a move like this is made. I think Manuel really raised his game. He’s a big guy who has physical gifts. I think he has a chance to be a good quarterback in this league.”
Ryan—unsurprisingly—qualified his statement, saying the team feels “really good about” Taylor but mentioned Manuel again:
“We feel EJ will keep ascending. He has a better chance of doing that as the No. 2, than the No. 3.”
Dallas needed a quarterback to serve as Brandon Weeden’s backup while the former first-round pick fills in for Tony Romo (broken clavicle). Cassel’s chief purpose was being the veteran option behind Taylor, but the dual-threat quarterback has performed well enough to make Cassel an expendable piece.
Plus, the Bills ultimately turned a fifth- and seventh-round pick into a fifth-and sixth-rounder, so that’s not a bad deal for the franchise, either.
Ryan might merely be spewing a little coachspeak regarding Manuel’s future, but as long as Taylor remains under center in Western New York, Manuel’s potential is nothing more than words anyway.