Jon Gruden was enthusiastic about quarterback Nathan Peterman’s potential when Peterman was entering the league in 2017 and Gruden was still in his former job as an analyst for ESPN.
Gruden is now the head coach of the Raiders and he’ll now have a chance to see if he can coax something out of Peterman, who he called the most pro-ready quarterback in the 2017 class. According to multiple reports, the Raiders have signed Peterman after working him out on Wednesday.
Peterman did not do anything during his time in Buffalo that made it seem like Gruden’s pre-draft analysis was on the mark. The Bills made Peterman a fifth-round pick last year and he made four starts and eight overall appearances before being released earlier this year. Peterman completed 52.3 percent of his 130 passes and had a 3:12 touchdown to interception ratio.
Those results didn’t stop other teams from working out Peterman since his release and the Raiders may have moved now in order to get in front of any teams that might have added Peterman to their 90-man offseason roster. Having Peterman on hand for the offseason would give Gruden a chance to develop the skills he raved about in 2017 into something that makes any future appearances less painful to watch for fans of Peterman’s team.
UPDATE 2:34 p.m. ET: Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Peterman has signed to Oakland’s practice squad.