Oakland Raiders: Top 3 takeaways from the team’s initial round of cuts
By Justin Fried
2. The team will carry three QB’s
This news wasn’t necessarily confirmed by any of the team’s cuts. Instead, reports surfaced later in the day on Friday that the Raiders would, in fact, be carrying three quarterbacks on the active roster.
This comes as a bit of a surprise given the fact that most NFL teams only carry two quarterbacks on the roster at any point. Many will retain a third QB on their practice squad, but very few enter the season with three on the active roster.
However, the Raiders appear to be ready to buck that trend.
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NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Friday night that the team was expected to keep all three quarterbacks. This comes as a result of head coach Jon Gruden’s apparent love for third-year signal-caller Nathan Peterman.
The battle for the backup quarterback job was expected to be between Peterman and veteran Mike Glennon. However, Glennon was widely considered the favorite given his NFL experience and larger cap hit.
But now, it doesn’t appear that there will be a loser of the battle after all.
The Raiders could have tried to sneak Peterman on to their practice squad as he still had eligibility remaining, but Gruden clearly didn’t want to risk losing the former Buffalo Bills quarterback.
It’s a bit surprising, but perhaps Gruden is right and Peterman could develop into a serviceable NFL backup at some point down the line. Just don’t expect him to be active for many, if any, games this season.