The Buffalo Bills are entering a new era of football in the 2015 season, and are expected to make a push towards the playoffs. Rex Ryan was brought in as the new head coach to replace Doug Marrone, and both LeSean McCoy and Percy Harvin were signed to bolster the offense as well. Buffalo’s only question was who would end up being the starting quarterback.
Matt Cassel was acquired by the Bills from the Minnesota Vikings this past offseason in order to compete for the starting job. There was a time at the beginning of the offseason soon after he was acquired that many expected him to be the front-runners to win the starting job over E.J. Manuel.
According to a report from ESPN.com, Cassel is very much on the hot seat to make the roster at this point in time.
During the 2014 season with the Vikings before being replaced by Teddy Bridgewater, Cassel ended up playing in just three regular season games. He threw for 426 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions. Those numbers weren’t impressive at all, but he did have a solid season in 2013 when he threw for 1,807 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
At 33 years old, there is no question that Cassel is beginning to wind down his career. He simply wasn’t able to continue the success that he had with the New England Patriots when Tom Brady went down with a season-ending torn ACL. Since then, he has had multiple seasons where he has looked very solid but never quite the start that some thought he would become after that season.
Buffalo seems to be liking what they see from Manuel, and he is likely going to be their opening day starter. Cassel is going to be given some time in training camp and preseason action to prove himself, but he has a long way to go in order to earn a roster spot.
Needless to say, it will be interesting to see what ends up happening over the course of the next couple months. Ryan is going to be putting together a very competitive football team, and it doesn’t appear that Cassel is going to be a big part of it. There is a chance that he could win the primary backup job, but Manuel appears to be in the drivers seat for the starting quarterback job at this point in time.
