Ryan Quigley has his first NFL job. Meanwhile, Tyler Thigpen somewhat surprisingly remained with the same employer.

Quigley, an unsigned rookie out of Boston College, survived the Chicago Bears’ final round of cuts Friday. The North Myrtle Beach High grad might wind up the Bears’ starting punter in Sunday’s opener against Indianapolis if Adam Podelesh (left hip flexor) is unable to go.

Thigpen, meanwhile, survived the cut with the Buffalo Bills, who surprisingly chose to retain four quarterbacks.

Brad Smith, a do-it-all kind of player, was expected to be the third-string quarterback before he injured his groin in a preseason game.

Because of that uncertainty, the Bills decided to keep three traditional quarterbacks – Fitzpatrick, Tarvaris Jackson, and Thigpen, a former Coastal Carolina standout. Jackson was obtained from Seattle last week, but he may not be ready to back up Fitzpatrick against the Jets.

“The injury to Brad, Tarvaris not being here but a short amount of time, all of that played into it,” Buffalo coach Chan Gailey said. “You deal with what you are having to make a decision with at that time. A month from now it may be different, but that’s where we are right now and that’s where we need to be. I have a hard time going into a game without a third guy that can take a snap, and we didn’t know if we’d have Brad this week or not.”

Thigpen’s job was considered to be on the line, but his knowledge of the Bills’ offense is deemed critical while Jackson gets a chance to learn Gailey’s system.

The Sun News staff contributed to this report