Former Raiders, Bills QB EJ Manuel retires from the NFL

Just six years ago, EJ Manuel was hearing his name called at the 16th overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft. Now he’s played his last game in the NFL, ESPN’s Field Yates is reporting.

The last game Manuel played was in a Raiders uniform in 2017. In total, he played two games for the Raiders with one start. The fifth year veteran came in for Derek Carr in week four of that season when Carr suffered a fracture in his back. That fracture would cost Carr the next game as well, but he would return in week six and Manuel went back to the sideline.

Manuel would remain with the Raiders throughout the 2018 offseason and training camp, competing for that primary backup spot behind Carr again. But this time he had no shot at the job because Gruden had sent a fifth round pick to Buffalo to acquire AJ McCarron, making him a lock for that job and Manuel was waived in the final roster cuts.

This offseason, Manuel signed with the Chiefs, but perhaps he was going to let go from a crowded quarterback room that also includes Pat Mahomes, Chad Henne, Chase Litton and rookies TJ Linta and Kyle Shurmur. Or he had just grown tired of the grind knowing there was no chance at a starting job out of it.