/www.thebillsclub.com/

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ORCHARD PARK , N.Y. (AP)The Buffalo Bills took the first step in restocking their quarterback position by agreeing to a two-year contract with A.J. McCarron.The 27-year-old spent the past four seasons backing up Andy Dalton in Cincinnati after being selected by the Bengals in the fifth round of the 2014 draft.McCarron’s signing on Wednesday came a few hours after the NFL’s free-agency period opened, and five days after Buffalo traded three-year starter Tyrod Taylor to Cleveland. The trade left 2017 fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman as the only quarterback on Buffalo’s roster.General manager Brandon Beane said he intended to add a veteran quarterback this offseason to provide experience.With two picks in each of the first three rounds of the draft, Buffalo also is expected to target one of the highly touted quarterback prospects.McCarron was a two-time national champion at Alabama but appeared in just 11 games in Cincinnati, mostly in mop-up duties. McCarron did start the final three games of the 2015 season and led the Bengals to the playoffs after Dalton broke his thumb.Against Pittsburgh in the wild-card playoff game, McCarron had the Bengals in position to win their first playoff game since the 1990 season. Jeremy Hill however lost a fumble, and penalties on Vontaze Burfict and Adam ”Pacman” Jones set up the Steelers for a winning field goal in the final seconds.Though he missed his rookie season because of a sore passing shoulder, McCarron was allowed to become an unrestricted free agent after an independent arbitrator ruling last month. McCarron was also nearly traded to Cleveland last season, but the deal fell through after the Browns failed to submit the paperwork on time.— Coach Pat Shurmur has refused to say whether two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning will continue to start at quarterback for the winless New York Giants.Shurmur said his coaching staff will be discussing all areas after the Giants fell to 0-2 , losing their home opener 28-14 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.Now in his second season as head coach, Shurmur said Manning has been the starter but he does not want to discuss whether he is thinking about making the change to Daniel Jones.Jones was taken sixth overall in the NFL draft and played very well in the preseason. He also is a lot more mobile than Manning and offers that option to the offense."Eli has been our starter to this point," Shurmur said Monday. "I don't want to talk about anything else moving forward."When told his refusal to make a definitive statement on his starting quarterback for Sunday's game at Tampa Bay would invite speculation, Shurmur said he understood.He also said he felt Manning has played well.Manning seemed uncertain about his future minutes later in the locker room. He sounded as if he had not been told his status."We're 0-2 and you are looking for answers," the 38-year-old Manning said. "I get it, we drafted a guy early and you are not winning games, these things are going to come up. I just have to keep working and do whatever my job is."Manning is 56 of 89 for 556 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His quarterback rating is 78.7.Jones led the NFL in the preseason, completing 29 of 34 passes for 416 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He has been getting a series or two with the first team in practice to stay ready , but it's not much work.What's surprising is the Giants have struggled scoring. They got a touchdown on each of their opening drives against Dallas and Buffalo, but added 17 points combined on every other drive.The problem has been third down: New York is 5 of 23, which is horrible."We're 0-2, there is always room for improvement," Manning said. "I feel like I am not missing, I missed one throw to Evan, yesterday. We just have to figure out a way to score more points and to do better on third down, and figure out a way to make completions on third downs."Manning said the uncertainty will not motivate him."Motivation is to win ," he said. "There is nothing more than that. You want to win because you work hard. That's why you train, why you do everything, prepare and practice, so you can go out there and win football games and build something special, so nothing changes."_

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