Matt Schaub Lands With Baltimore Ravens

After a quiet market on Matt Schaub following his release from the Oakland Raiders, the longtime veteran quarterback landed on his feet early this week, capitalizing on reported interest from a long list of teams to sign as a backup to keep his career in the NFL going into the 2015 season. A season that will be Schaub’s 12th year in the league since coming in as Mike Vick’s backup with the Atlanta Falcons as a long tenured quarterback in the league.

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According to Peter King of MMQB.com and SI, Schaub will sign with the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday afternoon. Schaub was visiting with the Ravens on Monday night where it was expected he would sign to backup Joe Flacco if all went well and the money was enough to bring him in despite interest from the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys, as well as his former team in the Atlanta Falcons being reported on Monday.

Signing in Baltimore, the 33 year old Schaub will replace Tyrod Taylor as the #2 quarterback on the Ravens depth chart as Baltimore will go from having a dual threat quarterback behind Flacco to a veteran pocket passer who has had reported arm issues over the past two seasons. Regardless of those issues Schaub was one of the better backup options left on the free agency market, which is why the Ravens scooped him up to ensure that they will have a proven former starter in case of any emergency injury scenarios this upcoming season involving Flacco.

Phil Naegely of FanSided NFL website NFL SpinZone had this to say of the plan for Baltimore to bring in Schaub:

"On Monday, SI.com stated that the Baltimore Ravens were one of three NFL teams interested in quarterback Matt Schaub. This interest shouldn’t shock any Ravens fan; they aren’t replacing Flacco as the starting quarterback, but rather to add some much-needed depth at the position.As for the Ravens, backup Tyrod Taylor didn’t see a lot of action with the Ravens since being drafted by the team in 2011 and wound signing with the Buffalo Bills. Schaub would be a big improvement over Taylor based on experience alone. While he has struggled in recent years, a veteran would give head coach John Harbaugh and new offensive coordinator Marc Trestman a little piece of mind.One thing is for sure: Signing Schaub would add quarterback depth and another veteran presence on a team that is relying more on younger players these days."

It is likely that if Schaub would have had a cheaper pricetag that the Raiders would have kept him on board alongside Matt McGloin as the backups for Derek Carr in Oakland, the veteran providing mentorship for young quarterbacks while also handling placeholding duties for Sebastian Janikowski to make himself a serviceable role player after being demoted before Week One. However after the Raiders traded for his salary the move was needed to be made to cut Schaub to free up cap space, general manager Reggie McKenzie getting Christian Ponder to replace Schaub as a veteran presence with McGloin still under contract as the younger backup on the QB depth chart behind Carr.

Now Schaub will be taking on a different role in Baltimore as a likely in case of emergency player rather than a backup mentor to a promising rookie as he won’t offer much in terms of advice to Flacco with the Ravens. What he will offer is a former starting quarterback for the Ravens to fall back on if everything comes crashing down by the way of a devastating injury to their starter. Schaub may be past his prime, but there are worse backups than a player with three 4000 yard, 20+ TD seasons as a starting quarterback. Baltimore did a good piece of business getting Schaub, who will continue his career with Baltimore after handling his situation in Oakland like a class act.

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