When the Oakland Raiders made the move to trade for Matt Schaub, head coach Dennis Allen was quick to say he was the future starting quarterback for the team. Despite Matt McGloin and Terrelle Pryor both still being on the roster and both having started last season, Allen was confident in saying Schaub would take over the role for the 2014 season. However, in McGloin's eyes, there is still an open competition for the role.
Schaub is essentially on a one-year audition. The quarterback restructured his contract when he was traded from the Houston Texans and will currently be earning $15-$20 million over the next two years with $8 million in guaranteed money. He is an easy salary cap hit and an easy release if things do not work out. The Raiders understand that Schaub is not an option for the future, but merely a stop-gap quarterback to help someone either on the roster or a rookie develop for the future. McGloin is eager to learn from the veteran and possibly compete with him next season.
"He reached out to me and we talked, so it's going to be great," McGloin said, via CSNBayArea.com. "I'm really looking forward to being around him and learning from him. It will be good to work with Matt Schaub each and every day and learn as much as I can from him. Just being around him, to see how he works and try to pick up on anything at all that he does (will help). I'm really looking forward to that, and being around a lot of the other veterans too."
McGloin is certainly saying all of the right things when it comes to the addition of Schaub into the quarterback mix. The second-year quarterback took over the starting role after Pryor got injured last year and showed some serious signs of potential. A top wide receiver and improved offensive line might be all he needed to truly look like a starting quarterback. However, the Raiders opted for experience in their win-now mentality, something McGloin does not offer.
"With Matt, it's all about experience," Allen said. "It's all about getting the reps in practice. It's going to be about getting the reps in the preseason games and gaining experience, because there's no better teacher than experience. I think that's the one thing, when you look at Matt, that he lacks. I think it'll be a great opportunity for him to fall in behind a guy like Matt Schaub and see how a guy who's been successful in this league plays the quarterback position both on and off the field."
McGloin should hold hope in the fact that the Raiders are not seeking to trade him. Instead, Pryor is the one landing on the trade blocks. Of the three quarterbacks, he appears to be the odd man out and will likely be released before the draft if a deal does not work out. However, McGloin will likely have another player to compete with since the Raiders are taking heavy interest in rookie quarterbacks like Zach Mettenberger and Aaron Murray to add to the rotation.