Buffalo Bills

Bills show confidence in QB EJ Manuel with Matt Cassel trade

Published Sep. 23, 2015 11:28 a.m. ET

foxsports

On Tuesday, the Buffalo Bills made somewhat of a surprising move by trading quarterback Matt Cassel to the Dallas Cowboys. The Bills received a only 2017 fifth-round pick in exchange for Cassel and a 2017 seventh-round pick, as they're now down to two quarterbacks on the depth chart.

By trading Cassel for a late-round pick, the Bills showed a new level of confidence in EJ Manuel, who is now the second-string quarterback.

"This was done more for how we look at EJ Manuel than how we looked at Matt Cassel. We think EJ is going to keep ascending," Rex Ryan said in his press conference Wednesday. "He has a better chance of doing that as a No. 2 than as a No. 3 QB."

Manuel was the No. 2 quarterback for a short time after the Bills released Cassel before resigning him for less money. But now with Cassel gone, Manuel is the team's primary backup and the coaching staff seems to have confidence in him. Ryan admitted that this probably should have been the case before now.

"Leaving training camp there was really hard decisions," he said, regarding the quarterback situation. "Maybe we should have known this earlier."

Hindsight is always 20-20, but the Bills were able to get some return on Cassel rather than releasing him. The move also frees up a roster spot for the Bills to sign a player at another position.

(h/t Mike Rodak)