The Oakland Raiders are in search of a quarterback, which is no secret. Both head coach Dennis Allen and general manager Reggie McKenzie have stated that they are not sure the quarterback of the future is currently on the Raiders roster.
All of the big-name free agent quarterbacks like Mike Vick, Josh Freeman and Josh McCown and now even quarterbacks who are not scheduled to be on the market are being linked to the Raiders. Via Len Pasquarelli of the National Football Post:
Just some scuttlebutt, but if (when?) the Houston Texans release Matt Schaub, the Raiders could be among the teams interested in the quarterback. Schematically, it isn’t a great fit, and Schaub is more a “systems” guy, but it’s said he has some fans in the organization and would be a stabilizing factor.
Schaub is not scheduled to be a free agent in 2014. But given how his 2013 campaign went, it would be rather shocking to see him remain in Houston next season. He is scheduled to be paid far too much and there’s little chance he’ll be given any opportunity to start for the Texans next season.
Since becoming the Texans’ starter in 2007, Schaub has had a few good seasons but was never overly impressive. In every season in which he played a full 16 games, he threw for over 4,000 yards while completing more than 60% of his passes and never throwing more interceptions than touchdowns. But he has always struggled in important situations and very few believe he is capable of being a dominant quarterback in the NFL.
Still, Schaub may represent an upgrade over what the Raiders are currently working with.
So how interested are the Raiders in Schaub? Pasquarelli’s report is probably about as vague as “scuttlebutt” gets, but the Raiders are going to need to get creative if they aren’t impressed with the quarterbacks currently slated to hit free agency.
With the current quarterback situation in Oakland, Reggie McKenzie is and should be looking at every potential option. Schaub is not a guy who will excite many Raiders fans, but the fact that McKenzie continues to leave no stone unturned is a good sign. Even if that means rumors about guys like Schaub.
