Raiders release QB Flynn
Demoted from projected starter to third team in the span of seven weeks, Matt Flynn fell another peg Monday when he was released by the Oakland Raiders.
Oakland was Flynn's third stop in three seasons. He made one start and earned a total of $14.565 million since leaving Green Bay as an unrestricted. free agent March 19, 2012.
Flynn signed with the Seattle Seahawks last offseason but encountered elbow soreness in training camp, inviting the franchise to give Russell Wilson, then a rookie third-round draft pick, an extended audition in preseason. Wilson wowed coach Pete Carroll and became entrenched as the starting quarterback.
Flynn was relegated to backup duty despite his three-year, $26 million deal and $10 million in bonuses.
General manager John Schneider was involved in courting Flynn, who was drafted when Schneider was with the Packers' scouting department in 2008. He said in February 2013 that the team was comfortable keeping both quarterbacks.
But Flynn was dealt to Oakland for a fifth-round pick in 2014 on April 1, 2013. The trade between the Seahawks and Raiders paired general managers who were together in the Packers' front office in Schneider and Reggie McKenzie. The Raiders needed a starting quarterback; Terrelle Pryor had one career start and Carson Palmer was traded to the Arizona Cardinals.
"He will get the opportunity to compete to be a starter with the Raiders," McKenzie said in April. "I believe Matt has that potential, but I also know he hasn't had enough experience. We're going to let him compete and battle, and see what happens."
But Pryor won the starting job entering the regular season. Flynn failed to impress in his only start since leaving Green Bay -- a Week 4 loss to the Redskins in which Oakland blew a 14-0 lead -- and was demoted to the third team behind undrafted rookie Matt McGloin and Pryor.
On Monday, Packers coach Mike McCarthy indicated it is unlikely Flynn will land back with Green Bay as Aaron Rodgers' backup.
"I'm definitely surprised because when his opportunity came (last year to become a starter with another team) I obviously gave him a very high recommendation," McCarthy said Monday.
When asked whether consideration would be given to re-sign Flynn as a backup for Rodgers, McCarthy asserted, "Personally, I'm very happy with the quarterback room with the way it looks, the people in it."
The only quarterbacks on Green Bay's 53-man roster are Rodgers and 10th-year pro Seneca Wallace, a journeyman signed before the start of the season. Third-year quarterback Scott Tolzien, another free-agent acquisition at the end of the preseason, is on the practice squad.
"Obviously, Matt was a Packer (from 2008-11), very fond of Matt and his time here," McCarthy said. "As far as any roster moves and things like that, I really don't have any comment on, but I do like Seneca Wallace. I like what he's done since he's been here. So, I feel very good about our quarterback room."
