Update:
Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News spoke to multiple NFL personnel executives who expect the Bills to release veteran QB Matt Cassel and retain former first-round pick EJ Manuel as their backup.
According to Carucci, Manuel has “strong support” from Bills GM Doug Whaley, which makes sense given that Whaley was one of the people who signed off on taking in round one a few years ago.
Carucci adds that with a cap figure of around $5 million, Cassel is just too expensive as a backup quarterback. On top of that, the Bills can use all the space they can get in order to lock up DT Marcell Dareus to a contract extension.
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Sal Capaccio of WGR550 reports that the Bills are having internal debate about whether or not to release veteran QB Matt Cassel.
Last night, Ian Rapoport mentioned that the Bills may end up keeping Matt Simms on their practice squad, which would leave Cassel and former first-round pick EJ Manuel competing for one job.
According to Rapoport, there are some in the Bills’ organization that aren’t willing to give up on Manuel just yet.
Cassel, 33, came over in a trade with the Vikings that sent a 2015 fifth-round pick and a 2016 seventh-round pick to Minnesota for the veteran quarterback and a 2015 sixth-round pick.
He is entering the final year of his two-year, $10 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $4.15 million for the 2015 season.
According to OverTheCap.com, releasing Cassel would free up $4.75 million in available cap space while creating no dead money.
Last year, Cassel appeared in three games for the Vikings and completed 57.7 percent of his passes for 425 yards, three touchdowns, and four interceptions.
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