In 2014, the Raiders were severely desperate. They had just come off a 4-12 season in which their three starters were Terrelle Pryor, Matt Flynn, and Matt McGloin. Flynn was a trade acquisition who was cut after one start, Pryor is now a wide receiver, and McGloin was an undrafted rookie who is at best a serviceable backup.
It was time for the Raiders to get serious about finding a starting quarterback.
The first place they looked was Matt Schaub.
At the time, Schaub was 32 years old, just a year removed from a Pro Bowl season, having thrown for over 4000 yards. He was let go by Houston after showing an amazing penchant for throwing pick sixes. But for the Raiders, who were coming off consecutive 12-loss seasons, he made sense.
A month or so later, the Raiders were fortunate to have Derek Carr still on the board when they picked in the second round and drafted him to be their future starter. That future turned out to be their present.
Schaub would be lost to arm fatigue in the preseason, Carr took over and never looked back. Schaub watched from the sideline that season, even while the Carr-led Raiders went 0-10 and ultimately 3-13.
That’s been Schaub’s career since then — first in Baltimore and now Atlanta — which is to be expected for a now 35-year-old former Pro Bowler. Those teams signed him in the hopes he could do enough in spot duty to keep them afloat should the starter go down.
As you know, the Falcons are in the Super Bowl today. Their offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan, is expected to take the head coaching job in San Francisco soon after his team (hopefully) hoists the Lombardi Trophy.
Reports say that he will look to bring Schaub along with him, perhaps even as a starter, should the 49ers not be as fortunate as the Raiders were in finding a better QB option.
Falcons QB Matt Schaub could follow Atlanta OC Kyle Shanahan to SF, per sources. Schaub could be starter, backup or bridge to future SF QB.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 5, 2017
Shanahan is expected to go after Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins, who will once again be a free agent this offseason. He was slapped with the franchise tag last season and proved once again he deserves a long term deal.
Cousins will be the hottest commodity on the market with several teams in need of a starting quarterback, so reeling him in is no guarantee. And with the dysfunction in Santa Clara these days, it isn’t exactly an attractive place to play.
The 49ers may not land a starting quarterback in free agency. And they may not find a starter in the draft either. Or at very least not find one ready to start immediately. So, it’s entirely possible we see the 49ers fielding good old Matt Schaub as their projected starter next season. Well, ‘good’ is a stretch, but ‘old’ is accurate.
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