(SP) – New Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has put his first stamp on his new team by bringing in former NFL quarterbacks Chris Simms and Bruce Gradkowski to help implement his offensive system and compete for the starting job with incumbent Derek Carr.
“Derek is a talented kid, but he had a down year and it’s time to take the next step in his career and become a superstar,” said Gruden. “But if he can’t do that, I need to know the team is in capable hands and that’s why I brought in Simms and Gradkowski.”
While both quarterbacks have been out of the NFL for several years, they did receive many starts from Gruden in his final years in Tampa Bay.
“These are a couple of great quarterbacks,” said Gruden. “They have to be because I chose to play them. I’m a quarterback guru. And they know my system, too, which is to have quarterbacks.”
Gruden says he may not be done signing players either.
“I’ve gotten a ton of interest since taking the job. A ton of resumes,” he said. “Johnny Manziel, JaMarcus Russell, David Carr. All of them great players because they are quarterbacks. Only I can see that they are good, which is why the Raiders are paying me $100 million.”
