Tarvaris Jackson released by Buffalo Bills

Well, so much for that budding three-way quarterback competition: the Buffalo Bills have released Tarvaris Jackson this evening.

The Bills re-signed Jackson to a one-year contract in February in advance of his hitting unrestricted free agency, and in the midst of trying to re-structure the massive contract of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Since then, Fitzpatrick has been released, Kevin Kolb was added in free agency and the team used a first-round draft pick on EJ Manuel.

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com was quick to point out that Jackson received $500,000 in bonus money in February, and departs the franchise with that half-million in his back pocket. Jackson was acquired via trade last August from Seattle in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick. He appeared in just one pre-season game for the Bills, then spent 16 weeks on the inactive list. Now-departed GM Buddy Nix promised Jackson a shot at the starting job when he re-signed in February, but that clearly wasn't in the cards for the veteran signal caller. His run with the Bills ends having appeared in just one pre-season game.

With Jackson now out of the picture, the Bills have just three quarterbacks on the roster: Kolb, Manuel and undrafted free agent Jeff Tuel. All three will take the field for a mandatory minicamp that starts tomorrow. That will be especially interesting for Manuel, whose reps were limited throughout voluntary OTAs as Kolb and Jackson took the lion's share of reps.