The Seattle Seahawks wanted a better backup quarterback, so they traded a seventh-round draft pick they probably won’t regret losing for Terrelle Pryor of the Oakland Raiders, which for them means a decent insurance policy in case Russell Wilson is injured, but for him is nothing more than another team that’s going to sit him an entire season on the bench.

Pryor seemed to be on his way to securing a starting job. He wasn’t the favorite to be a starter for the Raiders going into the 2013 season, but during the offseason workouts and preseason games he made himself the number one guy. He put up some impressive rushing numbers and to some surprising passing numbers here and there before falling out of favor, as Al Davis’ final draft pick is now gone from a team searching for a way back into football relativity.

It’s hard to say what went wrong for Terrelle Pryor with the Oakland Raiders. He might not have been the most accurate of passers, but he was improving and put on some spectacular performances before his injury and then benching in favor of Matt McGlion. While with a lot of teams you can feel there’s a solid reason behind such a decision and the changing of their minds, the Raiders haven’t been exactly a beacon of smart football decisions.

It is always good for players to join a team with a winning culture, not to mention defending Super Bowl champions. Pryor isn’t exactly a problematic player – he simply wanted to play, which wasn’t going to happen for him in Oakland. It wasn’t going to happen for him right away anywhere else, but there’s a chance that some of the teams looking at the draft as the answer to their quarterback problems would have been a good option for him.

It wasn’t in his hands exactly. The Seahawks got him via trade, and might have been the only team actually willing to give up something for him. The former Ohio State star will now be a substitute for Wilson, who also starred in the Big Ten. Pryor and Wilson both began their college careers in 2008, but Wilson joined Wisconsin in 2011 after three years in Raleigh with the Wolfpack. By then Pryor had already made himself available for the draft, becoming a third round pick of the 2011 supplemental draft.

In 11 games last season Pryor threw for 1798 yards, 7 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also ran for 576 yards and a couple of touchdowns, including a 93-yard run, the longest of the season.

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