In a move that might give ammunition to those wondering why Colin Kaepernick still hasn’t been able to get an NFL job, the Oakland Raiders on Thursday signed quarterback Nathan Peterman.
ESPN reported that Peterman will be added to the Raiders’ practice squad. The reason for the signing is that Raiders backup quarterback A.J. McCarron’s wife had a baby this week. McCarron might not be available to play in Monday night’s game against Denver, in which case Peterman would be placed on the active roster for the game. Derek Carr is the Raiders’ starting quarterback.
The 24-year-old Peterman is known for the relative lack of success he has enjoyed in his NFL career to date. A fifth-round pick by the Buffalo Bills out of the University of Pittsburgh in 2017, Peterman threw for 12 interceptions, compared to three touchdowns, in his career with Buffalo.
Peterman made a brief appearance, throwing an interception, in Buffalo’s playoff game after the 2017 season, the team’s first postseason appearance in 18 years. After a strong preseason this year, Peterman won the Bills’ starting quarterback job, leading the team to trade McCarron to Oakland, but was benched after throwing for just 24 yards and two interceptions in a Week 1 loss to Baltimore.
First-round draft pick Josh Allen then became the new starter for the Bills. But due to Allen’s injuries, Peterman played two more games for Buffalo, throwing interceptions both times, and the Bills released him November 12. The Detroit Lions gave Peterman a workout the following weekend but did not sign him.
Former 49er Colin Kaepernick, a considerably more accomplished quarterback, has not played for an NFL team in either of the last two seasons.
A.J. McCarron’s wife and the mother of the new baby boy, Cash Carter McCarron, is Katherine Webb, a semifinalist in the 2008 Miss Georgia pageant who ended up winning Miss Alabama in 2012. During the BCS National Championship Game in 2013, when McCarron played for the University of Alabama and Webb was his girlfriend, television announcer Brent Musburger was widely criticized for repeatedly making comments on the air about Webb’s good looks. McCarron and Webb married in 2014; the baby born this week is their second child.
QB Nathan Peterman has signed with the Oakland Raiders, per @RapSheet pic.twitter.com/rgkcjF9xhi
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) December 19, 2018
With a 3-11 record, the Raiders are in the midst of a poorer than expected season in Jon Gruden’s first year back as head coach of the team. The team, who recently fired general manager Reggie McKenzie, are also unsure where they’ll play the 2019 season, as they’re scheduled to move to Las Vegas in 2020.