ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Oakland Raiders have traded away the final player drafted by late owner Al Davis.
Oakland dealt quarterback Terrelle Pryor to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday for a seventh-round pick in next month’s draft.
The Raiders fulfilled Pryor’s wish to be traded a day before the start of their offseason program. Pryor had asked to be dealt after the season when he lost his starting job to undrafted rookie Matt McGloin, and the Raiders made the move after acquiring Matt Schaub from Houston to be the starter.
Pryor said on Twitter: “Thank you Mr Davis and Raidernation for the unbelievable support!! I will miss the Fans and all of the teammates I have met over the years with the Raiders organization!!”
The Raiders took Pryor in the third round of the supplemental draft in 2011, less than two months before Davis died. Pryor was suspended for the first five games by Commissioner Roger Goodell, who ruled he must miss the time he would have served under a suspension had he stayed at Ohio State.
Pryor got on the field only once as a rookie, committing a false start before his first play. He then played sparingly late in his second season before beating out general manager Reggie McKenzie’s hand-picked starter, Matt Flynn, in training camp last summer.
Pryor showed flashes of what he could do early in the season, completing 68.1 percent of his passes for 845 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions and a 97.6 passer rating in his first four starts. He also brought the running element to Oakland’s offense and set an NFL record for quarterbacks with a 93-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage against Pittsburgh on Oct. 27.
That was the final real highlight of his first year as a starter. He lost his job to McGloin a few weeks later after struggling through a knee injury in a loss to the New York Giants. Pryor had completed 50.1 percent of his passes for 714 yards with one touchdown, eight interceptions and a 44.2 passer rating in his four starts before losing his job.
He played only sparingly after that until starting the season finale against Denver. Pryor finished the season having completed 156 of 272 passes for 1,798 yards, seven touchdowns and 11 interceptions, with a passer rating of 69.1. He also rushed for 576 yards on 83 carries, but was sacked 31 times.
Pryor will compete with Tarvaris Jackson and B.J. Daniels for the backup job to Russell Wilson on the Super Bowl champion Seahawks.
“Terrelle is an incredibly explosive athlete and we’re excited for him to come in and compete,” Seahawks general manager John Schneider said in a statement.
The Raiders had already decided to go in a different direction at quarterback when they traded a sixth-round pick to Houston for Schaub. Coach Dennis Allen had already chosen Schaub as his starter and McGloin is in place as the backup. Oakland could still draft a quarterback next month.
