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E.J. Manuel Would Be An Interesting Addition For Philadelphia Eagles

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Word out of Buffalo recently is that quarterback E.J. Manuel may be on the outs with the Buffalo Bills, and he may not even be a lock to make the final roster. Even though I think the Bills need to stick it out with Manuel a little bit longer, I think the Philadelphia Eagles would be smart to trade a late-round pick next year for him.

Honestly, I think the Bills are jumping the gun with Manuel right now. He showed some flashes his rookie year, and last year he hit the same sophomore slump that most every quarterback hits. Not to mention, he’s entering the season having to learn an entirely new offense. But the Bills are jumpy right now because they’ve improved themselves right when the blood is in the water with the New England Patriots. They’re seeing the troubles the team has hit this offseason and wanting to strike right now.

If they do decide to bail out on Manuel and roll with Matt Cassel, the Eagles could benefit from that jumpiness in a big way. I’ve been writing for weeks now that the Eagles need a young quarterback with some upside to develop. I thought that would come from the draft, but obviously that didn’t happen. But with Manuel possibly available, the Eagles could get that young option pretty cheaply — he’s still on his rookie deal and carries a very small cap hit. Additionally, re-signing him to a longer contract would be both cheap and easy to accomplish.

Physically Manuel fits the big-bodied, athletic mold Chip Kelly wants out of his quarterbacks. He’s got a cannon for an arm and can make defenders miss with his speed. But the best part about Manuel is that his weaknesses would be easily hidden in Kelly’s system. Manuel has trouble going through his progressions and tends to panic, which brings his accuracy down along with his composure. Kelly’s offense is masterful at simplifying the mental part of the quarterback’s job; he can get the defense to tip their hand pre-snap and give his quarterback all that info before the ball is even snapped.

Believe me, Manuel would need a good bit of work. He’s nowhere near being a capable full-time starter and would undoubtedly be sitting on the bench inactive most games to start. But say that Sam Bradford gets injured again and Mark Sanchez remains the same old Sanchez we’ve all seen. Manuel could be a diamond in the rough that just needed a little love, a little tenderness, and a whole lot of time to learn a simple and high-octane offense he is physically built to run.

Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL.  Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.

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