Kyle Orton in, EJ Manuel Out, as Buffalo Bills Make QB Change
By Jason Lisk
Breaking: Kyle Orton is still in the NFL. Okay, okay, you might have missed that Orton signed with Buffalo before the season – after questions about whether he was going to retire, and was released by Dallas – for the hefty sum of $5 million this year, which is double what EJ Manuel makes.
E.J. Manuel lasted four starts into his second season, but you would think this kind of move is a deal breaker in Buffalo. Manuel’s raw numbers weren’t great, and after a decent week 1 performance in the win at Chicago, he’s been heading downhill. So far in 2014, his numbers look very similar to his rookie year, completing about 58% of his passes, for a meager 6.4 yards per attempt. He fares even worse in ESPN’s QBR rating, where he is 35th out of 36 QBs (ahead of only Chad Henne) with a 19.8 rating.
It’s an interesting move considering how early he is into his career, and that he was the guy surprisingly picked in the first round by this current regime just a year ago. To put it in perspective, Blaine Gabbert started 27 games in Jacksonville, JaMarcus Russell started 25 games in Oakland, and Christian Ponder has started 35 games in Minnesota so far.
That doesn’t mean it’s not warranted, but most times, coaches and GMs are a little more stubborn with the guy they hand-picked. The only slight difference here is a change in Buffalo ownership recently, and it’d be hard to can a coach/GM after taking the team to the playoffs. No playoffs and no No. 1 pick next year (Sammy Watkins trade)? Much easier to jettison them.
As for Orton, he will be starting a game for his fifth different franchise (Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Dallas, and Buffalo). That puts him in elite company. Here is a list of all quarterbacks that have at least 15,000 career passing yards and started games for at least five franchises (via pro-football-reference): Vinny Testaverde, Kerry Collins, Dave Kreig, Steve DeBerg, Norm Snead, Chris Chandler, Jeff George, Jeff Garcia, Steve Beuerlein, Gus Frerotte, Earl Morrall, Trent Dilfer, Jim McMahon, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Wade Wilson.