Just because the Bills have added two quarterbacks this offseason doesn't mean Rex Ryan is ready to give up on EJ Manuel and just because Manuel hasn't done much in two seasons doesn't mean he's a bust.
The new Bills coach emphasized both points in an interview with the Buffalo News. First, Ryan didn't seem too concerned about the fact Manuel hasn't found a lot of success through the first two years of his career.
"Let"s not just throw him out after two years," Ryan said. "Aaron Rodgers never took a snap for three years. So let's see where [Manuel's] going to be."
It's not exactly comparing apples to apples. Rodgers spent the first three seasons of his career in a quarterback room with Brett Favre.
During Manuel's two seasons in Buffalo, the Bills quarterback room has consisted of Manuel, Thaddeus Lewis, Jeff Tuel and Kyle Orton -- and in 2015, Manuel's going to see two new faces: Matt Cassel and Tyrod Taylor.
The Bills traded for Cassel at the beginning of free agency and signed Taylor in mid-March.
Although Ryan hasn't given up on Manuel, he's not going to hand him the starting quarterback job either. Ryan said that there's going to be an open competition.
"I'm lining them up to literally have a competition for the position," Ryan said. "People will say, 'Well, is this guy ahead of the other?' There's going to be assumptions, but the great thing is, let it play out. Give both guys the opportunity and then at the end of the day, the cream will rise to the top. It usually does."
Manuel had just better hope the competition doesn't have a predetermined winner like the last competition Ryan coached in New York whenGeno Smith "beat out" Michael Vick for the Jets starting job.
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