ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Former Bills quarterback E.J. Manuel is currently out of the NFL, unable to gain employment after five years spent with Buffalo and Oakland.

Nathan Peterman has a job with the Bills, and from his Instagram account Sunday night, in a post that has since been deleted, Manuel described utter disbelief that this is possible.

“I usually never open up about my situation in Buffalo, but the fact that this guy has had multiple games with 4-plus interceptions … and I still don’t have a job in the league? UNREAL. Say what you want about me, but never have I EVER done that. Forget a learning curve, I didn’t get the luxury of being able to use that excuse. I wonder why.”

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That last line seemed to insinuate that the only reason Peterman still has a job after throwing 13 interceptions in the nine games he has played in the NFL for Buffalo is perhaps because he is white.
 
Peterman completed 31 of 49 passes for 189 yards with three interceptions in the loss to Chicago. Manuel has a point; it is unconscionable that Peterman continues to draw a paycheck from the Bills.

Manuel was Buffalo’s first-round draft pick in 2013, a decision that was clearly ill-fated because the Bills’ deep thinkers at that time – Buddy Nix and Doug Whaley – completely failed in their evaluation of the Florida State product. He was probably a fourth-round talent, similar to Peterman who was a fifth-round pick by the Bills in 2017.

Manuel was forced to become Buffalo’s starter in his rookie season when Kevin Kolb suffered a concussion that ended his career. Manuel was in way over his head, and he ended up starting only 10 games because he suffered a knee injury and missed six games in the middle of the year. However, he wasn’t Petermanesque, not even close, as he completed 180 of 306 passes (58.8 percent) for 1,972 yards with 11 TDs and 9 interceptions.

To date, Peterman is now 69 of 133 (51.8 percent) for 563 yards with 13 interceptions and 3 touchdowns counting the playoff game last year. 

Manuel started the first four games of 2014, then was benched by coach Doug Marrone and was an afterthought in Buffalo until he left after the 2016 season when he signed with the Raiders to be Derek Carr’s backup. Jon Gruden cut Manuel this year.

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