Bills' QB battle? Young gone, but Thigpen still loses

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The Buffalo Bills had a competition going on for the backup quarterback job between Vince Young and Tyler Thigpen.

Young appeared to have the lead by default, then he played poorly against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. So did Thigpen gain ground?

Nah, Tarvaris Jackson did. Buffalo dealt a late-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for Jackson Monday, resulting in Young being cut.

The Bills clearly hadn't been pleased with how their backup quarterback situation was playing out, as Thigpen and Young had been below-average to bad through training camp and most of preseason.

Now, there's very little chance Jackson isn't the immediate backup behind starter Ryan Fitzpatrick. It's not like Buffalo will have a week-and-a-half competition between Jackson and Thigpen for the job.

That means Thigpen is a goner, as coach Chan Gailey has repeatedly stated multi-purpose player Brad Smith is the team's No. 3 QB regardless of who the backup is.