Newly-minted interim head coach Anthony Lynn confirmed what has been floating around the web for a day now: EJ Manuel will be the starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills in their Week 17 finale in New York against the Jets.
The way Lynn put it, though, was interesting:
EJ Manuel will be the starting QB Sunday, confirmed by Anthony Lynn. Says it was a "business decision."
— Sal Capaccio (@SalSports) December 28, 2016
Lynn certainly isn’t one to beat around the bush. Tyrod Taylor has an injury guarantee in his contract that would have the Bills on the hook for $27 million if he can’t pass a physical and they decide to part ways with him. If he were to be injured in the last game of the season, and they were to decide to let him walk, it would definitely put them in a bind from a financial standpoint.
It’s worth nothing Lynn stated he was not in the meeting when it was decided that Taylor would be benched for the season finale.
That said, Lynn has a very unique opportunity to showcase himself as a head coach, for the Bills and any other team that might be interested. The Bills are sixth in scoring and seventh in yardage since Lynn took over the offense in Week 3, and they’ve done it with Taylor at quarterback. Now, in the most important game of his coaching career, the front office is forcing him to make a change.
It’s not a good look from the front office, finances be damned. If the head coach can’t decide who his quarterback is going to be, he’s not going to want to coach the team. That goes for Lynn, who should have plenty of options as either a head coach or a coordinator, and anybody else they might be looking at.
The Post-Rex Era is off to a rocky start.