Raiders Get First Choice: It’s Hostetler : Pro football: Free-agent quarterback signs for three years, $7.5 million.

Finally, it’s a done deal.

Ending several months of speculation and nearly a week of negotiation, the Raiders have a new quarterback. They signed free agent Jeff Hostetler of the New York Giants to a three-year, $7.5-million deal Wednesday.

“This was the guy we wanted,” said Steve Ortmayer, the Raiders’ director of operations. “This was our first choice, the guy we went after.”

That gives the Raiders four quarterbacks, but one won’t be around much longer.

Free agent Jay Schroeder, last season’s opening-day starter, has three teams interested in his services, according to his agent, Marvin Demoff, who also is Hostetler’s agent.

The Raiders had some interest in Phil Simms, who re-signed with the Giants and secured the starting job there, leaving Hostetler the odd man out.

The Raiders also showed considerable interest in Boomer Esiason and, according to a Cincinnati Bengal source, offered a middle-round draft choice for him. But the Bengal quarterback, who was not a free agent, was traded to the New York Jets for a third-round pick.

That left the Raiders three free-agent choices--Hostetler, Jim Harbaugh, who wound up re-signing with the Chicago Bears, and Bobby Hebert of the New Orleans Saints.

Once the talks with Hostetler heated up, however, the Raiders’ enthusiasm for Hebert, who was asking for perhaps as much as $12 million over four years, cooled.

According to Demoff, neither side required much convincing.

“It was nice to be a lawyer and not a salesman,” Demoff said. “It was like a lab experiment. I put two things together and we got terrific results.”

In Hostetler, who will turn 32 in April, the Raiders are getting an accurate passer who rarely throws interceptions and offers an added dimension as one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the league. Hostetler threw only three interceptions last season in 192 passing attempts. The nine-year veteran also rushed for 172 yards in 34 attempts, a 5.1 average.

Hostetler is also a proven winner, having led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XXV two years ago.

Yet for all his accomplishments, Hostetler couldn’t beat out the 37-year-old Simms for the Giants’ starting job.

Once Schroeder goes, there will be two other quarterbacks on the Raider roster--Todd Marinovich and Vince Evans.

“(Hostetler) hopes to be the starter,” Demoff said. “But he still has to earn the job on the field. There have been no promises made as to his role.”

Maybe not, but you can bank on Hostetler being the starter. The Raiders have.

Raider Notes

Bob Woolf, attorney for the Toronto Argonauts’ Raghib (Rocket) Ismail, began negotiations with the Raiders on a possible NFL contract for his client. . . . The San Diego Chargers and Seattle Seahawks have expressed interest in Raider running back Marcus Allen, a free agent.

Hostetler’s Statistics Jeff Hostetler’s career statistics as quarterback of the New York Giants. Although on the Giant roster from 1984-87, Hostetler did not attempt a pass.

REGULAR SEASON YEAR ATT COMP YDS TD INT 1988 29 16 244 1 2 1989 39 20 294 3 2 1990 87 47 614 3 1 1991 285 179 2032 5 4 1992 192 103 1225 8 3 Totals 632 365 4409 20 12 PLAYOFFS 1990 76 45 510 3 0