Oakland Raiders trade sixth-round pick for Houston Texans' Matt Schaub

Matt Schaub will get another chance to lead a franchise after being traded to Oakland. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images) The Oakland Raiders put on a big push to

Doug Farrar | Mar 21, 2014

Oakland Raiders trade sixth-round pick for Houston Texans' Matt Schaub /

Matt Schaub will get another chance to lead a franchise after being traded to Oakland. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

The Oakland Raiders put on a big push to trade for Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, and that deal came to fruition Friday afternoon. The Raiders gave up a sixth-round draft pick for Schaub and make him their starting quarterback.

Of course, the main issue is not the low pick Oakland gave up -- it's the five-year, $66.15 million contract Schaub signed in September 2012. That contract goes with Schaub, and it guarantees him a $10 million base salary, plus $1 million total in per-game-roster bonuses. That would be an acceptable compensation package for a quarterback who wasn't on the decline, but as we saw last season, Schaub has some major issues that need work.

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He began the 2013 season as the team's starter but was pulled after setting an NFL record by throwing a pick-six in four straight games and five of seven overall. Backup T.J. Yates replaced Schaub in October after he suffered a lower leg injury against the St. Louis Rams on Oct. 13, and Yates promptly threw a pick-six of his own. It was part of a dismal stretch in which the Texans threw five touchdown passes to their own receivers and five to opposing defenses.

Schaub played in four more games for the Texans last season, including a 12-for-25 performance against the Raiders on Nov. 17 in which he couldn't manage a touchdown pass. He finished the season with 10 touchdowns and 14 picks. The Texans, who lost their last 14 games after starting 2-0, were eager to push Schaub off their roster and had interest from the Raiders and Browns. Houston signed veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a two-year deal Thursday.

Grade: F. Unless the Raiders have a deal in place to renegotiate with Schaub, they're going to lose millions in cap room in 2014 for a quarterback who clearly has major mechanical issues, they're going to do it when Michael Vick and Josh Freeman are on the open market and they're giving up a draft pick for the "honor." This is the kind of move that gets people fired.

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Published Mar 21, 2014

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.