The Oakland Raiders are just one of many teams continuing their search for a franchise quarterback. They have tried numerous players. Acquiring Matt Flynn looked like the option. Terrelle Pryor had his chance. Matt McGloin gave it a whirl. No one is thrilling Reggie McKenzie moving forward and now the team could be looking in another direction for 2014.
According to the National Football Post, the Raiders are very interested in Matt Schaub. Leb Pasquarelli writes that if the Houston Texans release Schaub in the near future, the Raiders might be interested in acquiring the quarterback. The team believes he could be a stabilizing factor for the position.
The veteran quarterback is set to make $11 million in 2014. His 2013 season did exactly go very well as turnovers and injuries hampered almost every game. Fans were extremely unhappy with him at quarterback and Schaub spent most of the final gams sitting on the bench. Now, the Texans are ready to draft a rookie for the position since the hold the No. 1 pick and Schaub can expect to be released sooner rather than later.
According to Pasquarelli, Schaub does not really fit into the Raiders system, making the interest on him odd, but McKenzie is desperate to finally find their franchise quarterback and is willing to try anything to make it work.
"We've got two young players who played this year (and) from an experience standpoint there wasn't any, so neither one of them stepped up and said, 'I'm the franchise quarterback.' So absolutely, we're going to always continue to upgrade and find that guy. Now how we find them, we'll figure that out in the next few months, to what's available to us," McKenzie said, via the Contra Costa Times.
Both Pryor and McGloin are at risk of getting released this offseason. Pryor's time at quarterback started out very positive in 2013, but after attempting to hide a knee injury from the coaching staff, he fell out of favor. McGloin stepped in and did all that a rookie could do. He appeared to be the better option for 2014, but McKenzie continues to hint at bringing someone else in.
The general manager has also been raving over this year's quarterback draft class. The Raiders have the No. 5 pick overall which will likely leave them out of the Johnny Manziel race despite McKenzie's love for the former Heisman winner.
"He's a playmaker," McKenzie said, via ESPN.com. "Whether it's him or whether it's any one of these other guys, when you can add a playmaker to your team that's what you're shooting for. Be it the draft, be it (a) free agent. It doesn't matter. And Johnny is a playmaker."
The Raiders could go any direction in this year's draft. Schaub is certainly not a long-term option for the team, but could be a solid fit as a mentor for a rookie quarterback.
