The Oakland Raiders are coming into the summer with a number of questions on offense and while a trade for Andre Johnson with the Houston is likely too much for Reggie McKenzie, the team looks ready to give Matt Schaub the starting job over Derek Carr even if he performs well and this comes after the team signed Greg Little after his release from the Browns.
The Raiders are coming into 2014 after their second straight 4-12 season and they need to show some decent improvements after the offseason they have had. The team has signed a number of veteran free agents and also traded for Matt Schaub and now the addition of Greg Little adds another name to the offense along with Maurice Jones-Drew, James Jones and Darren McFadden. According to Pro Football Talk, the team looked into trading for Johnson, but realized it would cost too much in a trade and that is one reason why they opted to sign Little, who was released from the Browns after the team signed Earl Bennett and Miles Austin.
The Raiders selected Carr in the second round of the draft this year and while many think he will get the chance to start, head coach Dennis Allen is putting his money behind Schaub. According to SI.com writer Jim Trotter, the Raiders will start Schaub no matter what happens and the only way Carr will beat out Schaub in training camp for the starting job is if something "catastrophic" goes down. That sounds very different from last season, which had Matt Flynn, Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin battling for the starting job and now only one of those players is left on the team.
The Raiders snagged Greg Little and that should give the team a nice boost after he was released by the Browns, as he is just 24 years old and has shown some skills over the past couple years. Little was tops in receptions for the Browns over the 2011 and 2012 seasons and the Raiders are hoping he can get back to that form after making 41 catches for 465 yards last season. James Jones also joins the offense and that should help Schaub and Denarius Moore as he tries to take the next step in the NFL. Last season the Raiders ranked 25th in passing yards per game and they are hoping to get that into the top half of the league this year.
Trading for Johnson would have been amazing for the Raiders, but they simply could not give up too much in a deal without hurting their team now and that is why Johnson likely will remain with the Texans through this season. Reuniting Schaub and Johnson could have been prolific, as the two have put up big numbers in the past, but Schaub needed a change of scenery and now Johnson could possibly be in the same boat. Last season he caught over 100 passes for 1,407 yards despite playing with a subpar Schaub and an undrafted rookie in Case Keenum and now Johnson will have to wait and see who starts in Houston.