Buffalo Bills: AJ McCarron traded to the Oakland Raiders

Buffalo Bills quarterback AJ McCarron has been traded to the Oakland Raiders in return for a 2019 fifth-round pick. The team is now left with two quarterbacks on their existing roster.

Brandon Beane certainly loves keeping Buffalo Bills fans on their toes.

On Saturday, the team’s general manager dealt quarterback AJ McCarron to the Oakland Raiders for a 2019 fifth-round pick, mere minutes after the league’s 4:00 pm EST roster cut down deadline. Ian Rapoport was the first to report the deal:

Then came the confirmation of the full deal:

You have to give Beane credit, as McCarron’s value is likely at its zenith given his heroic comeback performance against the Chicago Bears on Thursday night. Despite having a horrific first half, which included a pair of interceptions, one of which was a pick six, McCarron bounced back to throw three second half touchdowns to lead the Bills to a 28-27 preseason finale victory.

The move makes it quite salient that Bills brass have a certain level of confidence in the team’s youthful incumbent duo of Josh Allen and Nathan Peterman. That being said, the team is really taking their time deciding who should be named the team’s Week 1 starter. I suppose that this delay can be attributed to “the process.”

Whether or not the team decides to add a third quarterback as an insurance policy is yet to be determined. With each team having to trim their roster to 53, there will assuredly be a plethora of options for Beane to choose from should he decide to add a third signal-caller.

The Raiders were looking for some much-needed insurance behind franchise quarterback, David Carr. Should the Fresno State product go down with another lengthy injury this season, the Raiders would have had to rely on EJ Manuel to carry the torch. Suffice it to say, that would likely be a recipe for disaster.