90 Buffalo Bills players in 90 days: QB Matt Barkley

The Buffalo Bills are set at the quarterback position. That’s why they enter the 2022 season as one the favorites to win the Super Bowl in February. In a league where elite quarterback play is a necessity to compete, the Bills have a top-five (at worst) player at the position for the first time in a long time.

This means that the most interesting thing about watching Buffalo’s backup quarterbacks is trying to determine who will be the active guy holding the clipboard on game days. Frankly, that’s not even an interesting discussion this year, as it’s pretty obvious what the team intends to do with each of its three quarterbacks.

In today’s edition of “90 players in 90 days,” we profile the third of those three quarterbacks.

Name: Matt Barkley

Number: 5

Position: QB

Height/Weight: 6’2” 234 lbs

Age: 31 (32 on 9/8/2022)

Experience/Draft: 10; selected in the fourth round (No. 98 overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles

College: USC

Acquired: Signed with Buffalo as UFA on 3/21/2022

Financial situation (per Spotrac): Barkley signed a one-year deal with the Bills in March, a contract set to pay him a total of $1.145 million this season. Thanks to the veteran’s minimum exception, he’ll carry a cap hit of $920,000 should he make the final roster. The contract carries a total guarantee of $125,000.

2021 Recap: Barkley signed with the Tennessee Titans last offseason, agreeing to terms on a two-year deal. He did not complete that contract, however, as he was released as part of Tennessee’s purge to 53 at the end of the preseason. He did re-sign with the Titans’ practice squad, though. The Carolina Panthers signed him off of Tennessee’s practice squad in November, and he remained with the Panthers until the end of December. The Atlanta Falcons claimed him off waivers on December 29, waived him on January 4, and then re-signed him to the practice squad. His contract expired at the conclusion of the 2021 season. Barkley did not appear in an NFL game last year.

Positional outlook: Barkley is the third quarterback of three in camp, with Josh Allen and Case Keenum ahead of him. He’ll probably see plenty of action in the preseason.

2022 Offseason: Barkley is healthy and ready to roll for training camp.

2022 Season outlook: I think the Bills will keep just two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, so unless Allen or Keenum is injured, Barkley will probably be released and re-signed to the practice squad. If the Bills choose to keep all three quarterbacks on the final roster, then Barkley will be the one inactive on game days barring an injury. After Davis Webb III left to go to the New York Giants, re-signing Barkley was a solid comfort move to maintain some continuity for Allen. Barkley is a great teammate, and he’s capable of running the playbook in a pinch. Hopefully, all he does is run scout team for the duration of the season.