Tyrod Taylor Benched, EJ Manuel to Start Week 17

[DraftBoy]

Per Adam Schefter on Twitter.

[EDS]

Such incompetence on so many levels.

[DraftBoy]

Bills spin is that this move is being made to avoid the $30.75 million injury guarantee in Taylor's contract.

I think this signals that they are moving on and the injury avoidance serves as decent cover.

[TacklingDummy]

Shoud have been benched about 12 weeks ago, while the Bills were still realistically in it.

[WagonCircler]

The guy has his best game ever, and they bench him.

I'm not a fan. Don't want him retained. But this is so bush league it's disgusting.

[Thurmal]

Oh my God, I just had an awful revelation. We are going to re-sign EJ Manuel, aren't we? And he is going to "win" the starting job in camp next year, isn't he?

[Yasgur's Farm]

:dance3:

[DraftBoy]

I get the move from a business end, I don't like it, but you don't want to be on the hook for $30+ Million if he gets hurt in a game that means nothing.

However, I would much rather start Cardale Jones than EJ.

[Dmoney]

Ya just have the feeling that this whole thing is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

[DraftBoy]

More info, this time for Rapoport.

EJ's start will serve as a try-out for 2017 and Whaley wanted to make a QB switch earlier in the season.

Some rumors out there that the reason Ryan was fired today, as opposed to after the season, is that he refused to bench Taylor for Week 17.

[The Jokeman]

Bills spin is that this move is being made to avoid the $30.75 million injury guarantee in Taylor's contract.

I think this signals that they are moving on and the injury avoidance serves as decent cover.

I guess that means Tyrod won't be back next year either.

[DraftBoy]

I guess that means Tyrod won't be back next year either.

I would assume that is the case, but with this team who the hell knows.

[djjimkelly]

EJ will be retained and start while draft pick matures for a year mt initial reaction

[The Jokeman]

I get the move from a business end, I don't like it, but you don't want to be on the hook for $30+ Million if he gets hurt in a game that means nothing.

However, I would much rather start Cardale Jones than EJ.

I agree unless the plan is to see if EJ can return as our primary backup next year and not have to expose Cardale to the ugliness that could happen this week.

[EDS]

I would assume that is the case, but with this team who the hell knows.

Tyrod is going to punk the Bills when he starts at QB for the Jets next year.

[WagonCircler]

Oh my God, I just had an awful revelation. We are going to re-sign EJ Manuel, aren't we? And he is going to "win" the starting job in camp next year, isn't he?

Exactly correct. Now that Doug Whaley has been shown to be not accountable for anything, he can do whatever he wants.

And Anthony Lynn will go along with whatever Whaley wants.

**** this team.

[Thurmal]

More info, this time for Rapoport.

EJ's start will serve as a try-out for 2017
I have NEVER rooted against the Bills in my life, even in meaningless games for draft position. If this report is true, I hope the Jets win by 40.

[The Jokeman]

Tyrod is going to punk the Bills when he starts at QB for the Jets next year.

Now that's funny as I can't see Brandon Marshall returning to the Jets and Matt Forte is getting rustier oh and not sure what they'll do at LT and does Mangold comeback?? They're in worse shape then we are on offense.

[EDS]

Oh my God, I just had an awful revelation. We are going to re-sign EJ Manuel, aren't we? And he is going to "win" the starting job in camp next year, isn't he?

Wait for the posts (all offseason):

"E.J. is not that bad"
"Give E.J. a chance with real coaches"
"E.J. will be better after having a chance to sit and watch"
"Signs E.J. gets it"
"E.J.'s familiarity with personnel is an asset"

[HAMMER]

More info, this time for Rapoport.

EJ's start will serve as a try-out for 2017 and Whaley wanted to make a QB switch earlier in the season.

Some rumors out there that the reason Ryan was fired today, as opposed to after the season, is that he refused to bench Taylor for Week 17.

This is exactly what happened.

Even if they haven't fully made up their minds on exercising Taylors option they can't let him play because an injury means they are then stuck with him and that 27.5 million on the books. The last game is meaningless and to put that much at risk would be dumb. Rex wanted him to start hence the firing today and not next Monday.

Smart move by OBD, very smart. Anthony Lynn will get the job and it's a great move IMO.

[trapezeus]

so firings aside, personnel decisions aren't left to the coach. which is one of many signs that your team is utterly dysfunctional.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Tyrod is going to punk the Bills when he starts at QB for the Jets next year.
http://thisainthell.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/yuuup.jpg

[Forward_Lateral]

Anyone who wants Tyrod to play Sunday is a complete idiot. It would be so Buffaloesque for him to play, get hurt, and then be guaranteed 30 million dollars. They aren't keeping him next year, obviously, and thankfully. Winning Sunday is meaningless, so why the hell would you risk 30 million dollars in cap space?

I don't care who plays QB, as long as I never have to watch Tyrod play QB for the Bills again.

[Mace]

I can honestly say I'm entirely apathetic.

[Albany,n.y.]

Bills spin is that this move is being made to avoid the $30.75 million injury guarantee in Taylor's contract.

I think this signals that they are moving on and the injury avoidance serves as decent cover.

Even when the rumors came out about the contract, I couldn't believe the Bills were so stupid as to guarantee a cap killing $30+ million dollar injury clause in his contract. With this move, I guess I was wrong and the front office really is that incompetent.

[Forward_Lateral]

Even when the rumors came out about the contract, I couldn't believe the Bills were so stupid as to guarantee a cap killing $30+ million dollar injury clause in his contract. With this move, I guess I was wrong and the front office really is that incompetent.
Great point. What kind of moron does that? Oh, right, Doug Whaley does. And he's still safer than a pair of nuts at a pillow factory.

[coastal]

Awesome sauce

[IlluminatusUIUC]

$30 million guarantees on March 11, but it's not all in the same season.

[Mad Bomber]

Oh my God, I just had an awful revelation. We are going to re-sign EJ Manuel, aren't we? And he is going to "win" the starting job in camp next year, isn't he?
I just threw up in my mouth.

[justasportsfan]

Bills still have to pay Rex. So to make sure they don't have to pay Tyrod,benching him like others have stated in a useless game, smart move.

What is EJ trying out for ? Back up?

[Yasgur's Farm]

$30 million guarantees on March 11, but it's not all in the same season. $15.5M Option Bonus & $12M base salary & $3.25M of his 2018 salary fully guarantee on 3/11/2017. Remaining $9.75M of 2018 salary becomes fully guaranteed on the 3rd league day of 2018

[The Jokeman]

Bills still have to pay Rex. So to make sure they don't have to pay Tyrod,benching him like others have stated in a useless game, smart move.

What is EJ trying out for ? Back up?

That's my feeling.

[swiper]

The guy has his best game ever, and they bench him.

I'm not a fan. Don't want him retained. But this is so bush league it's disgusting.

This sums everything up perfectly.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

$15.5M Option Bonus & $12M base salary & $3.25M of his 2018 salary fully guarantee on 3/11/2017. Remaining $9.75M of 2018 salary becomes fully guaranteed on the 3rd league day of 2018

Exactly. 3 million is in 2018 and the 15 million bonus amortizes over 5 years. It's only in 2017 if the injury forces him to retire.

[Ed]

I was a big fan of Whaley, but I'm really starting to sour on him lately. I may be in the minority, but I really hope they don't get rid of Taylor. His cap hits are reasonable and it doesn't make sense to get rid of your starting qb when you have no other good options. If they want to try and upgrade the position then so be it. They don't have to get rid of Taylor to add another qb. Unless they're planning to bring in some high-priced vet, but that just seems like a bad idea considering the options.

If the Bills do move on from Taylor I hope he ends up in Denver.

[BertSquirtgum]

Tyrod sucks. Should have happened at the bye week.

[kingJofNYC]

I was a big fan of Whaley, but I'm really starting to sour on him lately. I may be in the minority, but I really hope they don't get rid of Taylor. His cap hits are reasonable and it doesn't make sense to get rid of your starting qb when you have no other good options. If they want to try and upgrade the position then so be it. They don't have to get rid of Taylor to add another qb. Unless they're planning to bring in some high-priced vet, but that just seems like a bad idea considering the options.

If the Bills do move on from Taylor I hope he ends up in Denver.

I'm with you, if anyone has to go it's Whaley. He and the boys upstairs gave Tyrod this ****ing deal, if he got hurt in week 8 vs week 17, it's the same situation, so why give Tyrod a clause like this if you were never sold on him, why risk it. It sends the wrong message to Tyrod, but it's the right move financially. And yeah, you can bet your ass he's headed to Denver if given the opportunity.

Edit: At least Bert gets to watch his draft sweetheart EJ play one last time. Tyrod sucks in your eyes, yet you vowed to never cheer for the Bills again if you they didn't draft EJ, which basically means you didn't watch a single ****ing down of EJs FSU career. Won a national championship with the same roster after **** canning that dude.

[Bill Cody]

The Jets have quit in case no one has noticed. They just kicked a FG trailing 41-0 late in the 4th last week so they wouldn't be shut out which is truly hilarious. And besides, does anyone really care whether we're 7-9 or 8-8? These 2 teams are both basically in who cares land. Now that we've fired Rex the Bills have the edge. Lynn is doing a job audition so he does actually care.

As for benching Tyrod, it makes perfect sense. Unless you're one of the delusionals that want him back. Taylor would be diving into piles all day to try to guarantee 30 large. The guy finally has a decent day and the Fantasy Island crowd is reaching for his zipper. EJ is the best QB we have on the roster. We could easily be 7-8 with him under center. I could care less about auditioning Jones, another LB playing QB. But if you want to improve the draft slot, start Jones, we can have an over/under total picks in the game contest, Fitz is a pick machine too.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Schefter said TV that the next HC will decide on Tyrod, which makes sense (so it is not Lynn?), as in business sense. Like others said, 7-9 or 8 - 8? You probably want 7-9 here. I would not be surprised they play a few others, like Williams for McCoy, Hunter for Watkins, Thomas for Clay, etc.

To me, the reasonable action is to renegotiate with Tyrod, though it is hard to see the benefits that from Tyrod's side. The next step would be to trade Tyrod is the next HC does not want Tyrod. You may think it is crazy but Tyrod does have trade value, even with the existing contract.

[HAMMER]

This sums everything up perfectly.

No it does not, you two mouth breathers don't get it.

[Ingtar33]

The guy has his best game ever, and they bench him.

I'm not a fan. Don't want him retained. But this is so bush league it's disgusting.

yes it is


Oh my God, I just had an awful revelation. We are going to re-sign EJ Manuel, aren't we? And he is going to "win" the starting job in camp next year, isn't he?

yes he is.


And of course TT will end up the starting QB of the denver broncos, and will probably QB them to a superbowl victory while EJ gets us another 6-10 season. This is so predictable it's making me ill just thinking about it.

[Mr. Pink]

No it does not, you two mouth breathers don't get it.

The timing of benching Tyrod is rather suspect.

It does look bad on the franchise to do it now...it should have happened a few weeks ago and no one would have thought it was the wrong move.

[kishoph]

Maybe they're just saving Taylor for the playoffs. :chuckle:

[Typ0]

The timing of benching Tyrod is rather suspect.

It does look bad on the franchise to do it now...it should have happened a few weeks ago and no one would have thought it was the wrong move.


It does not look bad at all. They did everything they could to give Rex Ryan the chance. He made the calls and now will suffer the consequences. On the other hand, as soon as they were secure in their decision to move on from Ryan playing Taylor would be very wrong ... as they could strap the next coach with a QB on the roster they don't want which could be avoided.

[The King]

This is why Lynn cant be out coach. We need someone who over sees all. Whaley can continue to manipulate Lynn and pull strings. They need a Coughlin type to run this ****. Its the only way.

[BertSquirtgum]

I'm with you, if anyone has to go it's Whaley. He and the boys upstairs gave Tyrod this ****ing deal, if he got hurt in week 8 vs week 17, it's the same situation, so why give Tyrod a clause like this if you were never sold on him, why risk it. It sends the wrong message to Tyrod, but it's the right move financially. And yeah, you can bet your ass he's headed to Denver if given the opportunity.

Edit: At least Bert gets to watch his draft sweetheart EJ play one last time. Tyrod sucks in your eyes, yet you vowed to never cheer for the Bills again if you they didn't draft EJ, which basically means you didn't watch a single ****ing down of EJs FSU career. Won a national championship with the same roster after **** canning that dude.

How butt hurt are you going to be when Whaley resigns EJ?

[Mouldsie]

Give me EJ in 2017 if it leads to Josh Rosen



Fun stat I saw on Twitter though, only Tyrod Taylor has a winning record and QB rating above 80 of all Bills long term QB's since Kelly. That is, hes the only one with an 80 QB rate AND hes also the only one with a winning record. Who brought in TT? Wrecks. He did one good thing.

Not that TT is my idea of a franchise savior of course.

[sudzy]

EJ is going to be your starting QB in 2017. QB will not be addressed in the draft because Whaley already did with the Cardale pick. And Doug Whaley is a genius in his own mind. They are not going to be able to sell this to any decent coaching candidate so they will give Lynn the coaching job. Get ready to crash and burn Bills fans. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

[kishoph]

Anyone who wants Tyrod to play Sunday is a complete idiot. It would be so Buffaloesque for him to play, get hurt, and then be guaranteed 30 million dollars. They aren't keeping him next year, obviously, and thankfully. Winning Sunday is meaningless, so why the hell would you risk 30 million dollars in cap space?

I don't care who plays QB, as long as I never have to watch Tyrod play QB for the Bills again.

Taylor getting injured takes away the option the new head coach will have on wanting to keep Taylor or not. If the Bills were forced to pay Taylor, you can bet he'll be here no matter what the new guy thinks.
I wouldn't mind keeping Taylor here, but not with that contract and certainly not if it stalls the search for a better option at QB.

[WagonCircler]

Give me EJ in 2017 if it leads to Josh Rosen

You are never getting Josh Rosen. Whaley is here forever.

Here's a quick list of his preferences and acquisitions: Last year, his preference was Hue Jackson. This year, it's Anthony Lynn. A few years ago, Whaley compiled the Bills draft board and his STRONG recommendation (let's face it, it was his pick) was EJ Manuel. Since then he has signed Tyrod Taylor and drafted Cardale Jones. He spent two first rounders and a fourth on Sammy Watkins, then last year's first and second on injured players who combined to play a total of around 5 games this year.

Do I need to point out what all of these people have in common?

Doug Whaley has certain biases. And Josh Rosen runs afoul of them.

[The Jokeman]

We also signed Karl Kolb, Jeff Teuhl, Kyle Orton and traded for Matt Cassel. Where do they fall into your narrative? Let me guess you'll dismiss the first two because Nix was officially the GM then. Nice way to spin things though.

[jlgarsh]

Exactly. 3 million is in 2018 and the 15 million bonus amortizes over 5 years. It's only in 2017 if the injury forces him to retire.
It's still $30 million dollars they'd have to pay him in 2017. No one said his cap number was $30 million...just that he was guaranteed that amount in March.

[YardRat]

I don't know how anybody can be upset with this move, it actually makes sense, which is something we've apparently become unaccustomed to and are no longer willing to accept. Hell, I wouldn't just bench him, I'd put him on the inactive list and let him watch the game in street clothes from the sideline.

Nothing...and I emphasize NOTHING...good can come from playing Taylor this weekend.

Start EJ and get Jones in for some snaps. Sit Shady and Watkins...Dareus and Lawson...Richie and any other olineman that is dinged. This game is meaningless both short-term and long run, why the hell risk anything at all on it?

[Turf]

As much as Tyrods weaknesses disappoint me, if he played like this next year and we got our defense on track, we could make the playoffs. I'm looking around and see who, Cutler maybe? Romo would be Brandons dream come true so watch out for that one. So I don't know how they upgrade over Tyrod right now. What they need is better coaching and a better defense. Watch how many sacks EJ takes this weekend. They may decide to keep TT.
In my perfect world, Whaley's fired.

[swiper]

I used to want Cutler, but since Fox has been in Chicago he has been horrid. Holding that team back. And I don't think Romo would agree to come to Buffalo.

[Turf]

I used to want Cutler, but since Fox has been in Chicago he has been horrid. Holding that team back. And I don't think Romo would agree to come to Buffalo.

Then getting rid of Tyrod might be foolish if there is no one better out there. At least we have a semi functional offense. And you can blame Rex and Lynn for forcing that Bush end around in OT that could have cost the game. I have zero faith in Lynn leading us anywhere.
I just saw an article where Bush could break a record held since 1975. The only running back since to have more than 10 carries and negative yards on the season. Yet hey, every game, somehow, we're obligated to get him that one rush, which has arguably cost us a few games. Stupid coaching.