Oakland Raiders add Tyler Wilson to practice squad

Tyler Wilson’s future has been in doubt ever since he was waived by the team after their initial 53 man roster was submitted ahead of Saturday’s deadline. A fourth round pick out of Arkansas, Wilson then cleared waivers and was free to sign wherever he wanted should another team wish to give him an offer. With him free to go to the Raiders practice squad, he chose to stay with the Silver and Black and team and team up with fellow rookie Matt McGloin behind Terrelle Pryor and Matt Flynn on Oakland’s depth chart.

Oakland tweeted the news through their official twitter account. Wilson was initially on Oakland’s 53 man roster as the team opted to keep four quarterbaks and two punters before waiving Wilson and cutting ties with punter Chris Kluwe the following day. Now Wilson will head to the practice squad, a best case scenario for Reggie McKenzie who could have wasted a fourth round pick for nothing in return if Wilson was claimed.

Wilson broke out on the Razorbacks in his junior season throwing for 24 touchdowns with just six interceptions before opting to return to the team before the Bobby Petrino scandal put his senior year into a tailspin. With the Razorbacks falling off, Wilson broke 20 touchdowns for another season yet threw 3 interceptions that hurt his draft stock. Now after getting beaten for the third string quarterback position his career has suffered yet another blow.

Despite the relief of McKenzie for not losing Wilson and suffering the embarrassment of losing a fourth round pick, it is still a failure in my eyes that the Raiders could let their fourth selection go through the waiver wire unclaimed, especially someone they were so high on coming out of Arkansas. Terrelle Pryor now looks like Oakland’s QB for the moment as well as for the future as he continues to grow as a quarterback and undrafted QB Matt McGloin outplayed and outworked Wilson all preseason. It appears that for now Wilson has a long way ahead of him before he is a focal point on any NFL roster and will be the fourth string quarterback as long as Pryor, McGloin and Matt Flynn all occupy roster spots for the Raiders.