ALAMEDA – You could say Charlie Frye did a double take when asked the question.

Or maybe he just leaned in a little closer, cupped his ear to make sure he heard correctly.

"Can you stay another night?" the query came to Frye, visiting the Raiders on his free-agent tour a few months back. "Mr. Davis wants to meet you."

This, to say the least, was unusual. Al Davis does not make a habit of granting audiences with fringe players hoping to sign with his team.

"You just say, 'What?' " Frye recalled with a laugh.

And, of course, you accept the invitation. And when Oakland makes an offer, you take that, too. But that offer doesn't include an opportunity to compete with JaMarcus Russell for the starting quarterback job, or even a chance to give Jeff Garcia a run for the backup spot.

Not that Frye, 27, doesn't have experience as an NFL starter. His first career victory came against the Raiders on Dec. 18, 2005, in the driving rain at the Oakland Coliseum, leading Cleveland to a 9-7 win.

Instead, Frye will be in the mix for the No. 3 quarterback position. Bruce Gradkowski, Danny Southwick, Andrew Walter, consider yourselves warned.

In reality, Frye should have had this thing sewn up when he signed Monday and took the field this week for organized team activities. Because even if Frye has yet to take a snap in live drills, the best thing the purportedly 6-foot-1 Gradkowski has done this spring is provide an ego boost for defensive linemen regularly batting down his passes.

"It's them short-(behind) quarterbacks," one D-lineman howled at a recent practice.

Walter is persona non grata around Raiders headquarters, and his release or trade seems imminent. Southwick is a rookie – more taxi-squad material than emergency QB stock.

"We really just want to have enough arms and to create competition," coach Tom Cable said.

In Frye, the Raiders have upgraded their quarterback corps while diversifying it. Russell is the prototypical big-arm gunner. Garcia is the resourceful, scrambling playmaker. Frye is the dink-and-dunk nuisance who can break hearts.

A third-round draft pick out of Akron in 2005, Frye started the Browns' final five games as a rookie and 13 more times in 2006. He beat out Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn to start the 2007 season but took an ignominious route to NFL history when he became the first starting quarterback to be traded (to Seattle) a week after the opener.

Frye played in two games for the Seahawks, starting once in 2008. His career record as a starter is 6-14, and his career passer rating is 70.4, having thrown for 3,573 yards with 16 touchdowns and 25 interceptions in 23 games.

"When I didn't sign back with Seattle, (I was) just sitting at home for two months," Frye said. "Your fire burns a lot deeper, knowing that everyone else was at OTAs and I was at home. It's very motivating."

As is the prospect of competing for a job, even if it's for the No. 3 gig.

"I've been in quarterback competitions with Derek and Brady up in Cleveland, and I thought that's when I was playing my best," Frye said. "I only got a half to show it, but going into that season, I thought I was in my best shape because it drives you. And I think competition brings out the best. I think that's the way it should be. Nothing has ever been handed to me, and I don't want it like that.

"You don't realize how valuable and precious this game is. You never want to complain again about a 7 a.m. meeting … or your alarm going off at 6 a.m. I was only out a month, but I missed it. … I'm here for two weeks, and then we break for training camp, but I think I'll be all caught up by the time we report for training camp."

When Frye spoke to reporters this week, he had finished just his second practice with the Raiders, so his sample size of the playbook was limited. Still, he feels a connection.

"I think it's (just different) terminology, and a lot of it is the same carry-over from Mike Holmgren's West Coast deal" in Seattle, he said. "Being with him the last two years, even though I wasn't playing, I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Just the stuff I was able to take from him is going to help my game, from my fundamentals to the way I prepare."

Plus, he has a follower in the Raiders owner's office.

No wonder, then, an anxious Frye was even more awestruck when he entered Davis' lair.

"It's just a different aura when you go in there," Frye said. "You can just feel the history. It was kind of cool."

As was Davis recounting Frye's first NFL victory as a starter.

"We kicked a field goal at the end with time running off, and (Davis) was reliving plays like they happened yesterday," Frye said with a laugh. "I was like, 'Did you just look at the film or something?' He was like, 'No.' "

Davis also recalled Frye leading Cleveland to a 24-21 victory the following season.

"Once he started talking about it, he was like, 'You remember that one on fourth down when you hit (Kellen) Winslow across the middle? Man, that was a backbreaker.' I was like, 'Oh, yeah, now I remember.' It was neat."

You want neat, how about this? Two of Frye's first three NFL victories came against the Raiders – in Oakland.

Call The Bee's Paul Gutierrez, (916) 326-5556, and read his Raiders blog at www.sacbee.com/raidersblog.