The Oakland Raiders have been a very active team in free agency in 2014 and now names like Matt Schaub, Mark Sanchez, Michael Vick and Josh Freeman are targets at quarterback, while Jared Allen and Kevin Boothe are potential free agent pickups and this comes after the team already signed LaMarr Woodley and Justin Tuck to deals this offseason.
Reports have the Raiders looking at Schaub as the top target to play quarterback in 2014, but complicating things is the fact that he remains with the Houston Texans. Same goes for Mark Sanchez, as he is with the NY Jets, but according to ESPN.com, the Raiders are willing to wait and see what happens to those two players before making big moves at quarterback. The Texans and the Jets will shop Schaub and Sanchez and while no news is concrete yet, it's very likely that they will get released at some point if they are not moved before that.
According to ESPN.com, Schaub is the top target for the team over Sanchez along with Michael Vick and Josh Freeman, with the latter two is on the free agent market and not getting a ton of heat yet. The Raiders have long been considered to be in the mix for Vick, but they also could be looking at the draft as an option to add a quarterback, as they have a top five pick and names like Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater will be available. The team already has Trent Edwards and based on what head coach Dennis Allen has said, Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin will not be handed the starting job and will have to compete with a veteran to win it.
The Raiders are coming off of their second straight 4-12 season and the team is working to re-shape the offensive and defensive lines and that makes Allen and Boothe potential additions to the team. Tuck and Woodley will help shore up the pass rush and Allen could be another option to bring in, while Boothe is visiting the team after they already signed Austin Howard and Roger Saffold, but since the latter deal fell through due to a physical, someone else like Boothe remains in the mix.
According to Pro Football Talk, Boothe is visiting the Raiders and this comes after a few seasons with the Giants after previously being in Oakland. The Giants are expected to retain Boothe after he played and started in all 16 games last year for the second straight season, but New York, like with every other free agent they had, are letting him test the market. The Raiders already snagged Tuck and the Giants took Rashad Jennings and now the teams could swap players again in free agency. Mike Brisiel and Stefen Wisniewski are already with the team and adding Boothe to that mix will give the Raiders some size up front.
The team traded for Matt Flynn last offseason and that didn't work out and now they are looking at Sanchez and Schaub, who both could use a change of scenery. Vick will be an interesting option as well and if they like Pryor for the future, Vick could be the player they opt to sign.
