Raiders release former Seahawks backup QB Matt Flynn

The Seahawks seem to have a knack for breaking quarterbacks. They broke San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick after blowing the 49ers out 29-3 at CenturyLink Field on Sept. 15; he has struggled since facing the Hawks. They apparently broke Houston’s Matt Schaub a week ago; he imploded against the Niners on Sunday, looking nearly like he’d never played the position before.

Matt Flynn warms up before the Raiders’ game against the Redskins on Sept. 29 in Oakland, Calif. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo)

It appears Seattle may have broken quarterback Matt Flynn, as well.

After trading a late draft pick to Seattle for the career bench-warmer and naming him the starter before the preseason, the Oakland Raiders reportedly released Flynn on Monday.

As Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated reported, and CBS Sports Jason La Canfora confirmed, the Raiders have seen enough of Flynn and are cutting their losses. Flynn started one game for Oakland — last week’s 24-14 loss to the Redskins — and quickly found himself the target of much criticism from fans and coaches alike.

Flynn lost the starting job when Terrelle Pryor out-shined him in the preseason yet got the chance to prove himself last week as Pryor sat out with concussion symptoms. Raiders fans were hopeful Flynn would bring promise and potential to Oakland’s continually struggling football team, but his poor performance (seven sacks, two fumbles and a pick-six) against Washington doused those dreams.

“It hasn’t worked out like we anticipated and we’ve got to make decisions and we’ve got to move forward and continue to go,” Raiders coach Dennis Allen said last Wednesday, when he announced Pryor would be returning to the starting slot. “Matt’s going to continue to battle and scratch and claw, and I still believe that he’s a capable quarterback, but we’re going to give (Matt) McGloin a chance.”

McGloin is an undrafted rookie free agent out of Penn State and now is Oakland’s second-stringer. That’s right: Flynn just lost his roster spot to an undrafted rookie free agent.

The past two years have been tough for Flynn.

As all of us in Seattle know, the Seahawks brought him in during the 2012 offseason as one of the most sought-after free agents (aside from Peyton Manning). Flynn had just put on a fireworks show as Aaron Rodgers’ backup in Green Bay, leading his Packers with six touchdown passes and 480 yards in a 44-33 New Year’s Day victory over Detroit as Rodgers rested up for the playoffs.

Matt Flynn appeared in three games for the Seahawks in 2012 — the three blowouts of Arizona, Buffalo and San Francisco toward the end of the season. (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)

His signing was exciting to Seahawks fans, who were ready for a new quarterback after Tarvaris Jackson’s lackluster 2011. The team reportedly gave him a three-year, $26 million contact with $10 million guaranteed — big bucks for a backup who still hadn’t proven himself as a starter.

Then Seattle selected Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, and the rest is history. Wilson won the starting job in a three-way preseason competition with Flynn and Jackson, and Flynn spent the entirety of 2012 on Seattle’s bench. Wilson won the hearts of the Seahawks; Flynn became another overpaid clipboard-holder.

So when the Raiders were in need of a quarterback in the 2013 offseason, they called up the Hawks. Seattle GM John Schneider sent Flynn to the Raiders in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2014 draft — surely happy to get Flynn’s contract off the books.

Nevertheless, the past two years have been great for Flynn’s pocketbook. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter notedMonday, the Seahawks and Raiders paid Flynn $14.5 million combined for one start in the past two seasons