Following their decision to move on from veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor, the Buffalo Bills made it clear that they were in the market to address their quarterback situation. The team had also orchestrated a trade to move up several spots in the first round in this year's draft to put themselves in the position to add a promising talent at the position.
However, the Bills hadn't added a veteran presence to the position that could give them assurance in the meantime to potentially step in as a starter next season. This had led to the front office acquiring AJ McCarron on a two-year deal in free agency. According to Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, Bills GM Brandon Beane first sought the opinion of some of McCarron's former coaches – including Browns coach Hue Jackson – before signing him, and liked what he heard.
“I actually spoke to Hue Jackson the night before we signed him, texted with two other coaches of his that I know,” Beane said in a press conference Friday, via quotes distributed by the team. “And the one word they told me about AJ that got me fired up was ‘competitor,’ and I love that.
Jackson has plenty of first-hand knowledge of the type of person and player McCarron having had coached him as the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals for two seasons. In fact, he almost orchestrated a trade for McCarron to join him on the Browns prior to last season's trade deadline. Cleveland was also believed to be a potential landing spot for McCarron this offseason, but things never came to fruition.
Regardless of what the Bills do in the first round in this year's draft, the 27-year-old is in the position to earn the starting quarterback position for the first time in his brief NFL career. Through his first three years in the league, McCarron hasn't played much throwing for 920 yards while completing 64.7 percent of his passes for six touchdowns and two interceptions in 10 appearances.
The bulk of that playing time came in his rookie campaign where he played in seven games with Pro Bowl quarterback Andy Dalton injured. He also started in the Bengals’ 18-16 playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he completed 23-of-41 passes for 212 yards, one touchdown, and an interception.
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