The Oakland Raiders are in the middle of a franchise turnaround that has been a few years in the making and while Reggie McKenzie has done a good job getting some bad contracts and wasted money off the books, some of his decisions could come back to haunt him and/or cost him his job, including the trade for Matt Flynn.
During the offseason the Raiders traded for Flynn from the Seahawks for a fifth-round pick in the 2014 draft and a conditional pick in 2015 and he was expected to be the starting quarterback But for the second time in two seasons, Flynn was beat out by another player. After signing with the Seahawks as a free agent, Russell Wilson beat him out as a rookie and then Terrelle Pryor beat him out for the Raiders job.
Flynn got the chance to play after Pryor was hurt, but he was not very good against the Washington Redskins in a loss last week, allowing the team to come back from a 14-0 lead. Flynn threw for 227 yards, but he also had a pick and after another rough week, he is now third on the depth chart for the Raiders, something that has to be troubling for McKenzie.
Many in the league felt McKenzie had the team going on the right track, but clearly they are still a year or two away from any type of contention and now the trade for Flynn looks like a disaster. Making matters even worse, the team drafted Tyler Wilson in the fourth round and ended up cutting him in favor of undefeated QB Matt McGloin, who was the one who hopped over Flynn and is now the backup for Pryor.
Wilson ended up on the practice squad for the team, but that is not a good sign for McKenzie. DJ Hayden was the team's first round pick despite having a near-life threatening injury in college and with Darren McFadden injured again, the choice to re-sign him or not could be the final decision for McKenzie.
