The Bills have acquired Matt Cassel in a trade with the Vikings. Buffalo agreed on Wednesday to send two undisclosed draft picks to Minnesota in exchange for Cassel and an undisclosed pick of their own.
Cassel, 32, will compete with EJ Manuel for the starting quarterback job in Buffalo. The Bills were reportedly interested in signing Josh McCown, but he ended up with the Cleveland Browns. Kyle Orton, who started for the Bills after Manuel was benched last season, has retired.
The trade, which has been confirmed by both teams, cannot be made official until the start of the new league year on Tuesday.
Expectations for Cassel were extremely high after he filled in admirably for an injured Tom Brady in 2008, but he has not really lived up to them. He was mediocre at best in four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and fizzled out quickly the past two years with the Vikings.
The Bills are sure to make LeSean McCoy the focal point of their offense (assuming they can make him happy with a new contract), so they probably won’t ask Cassel or Manuel to do much. Still, Rex Ryan can’t be feeling all that great about his quarterback situation with his new team.
