The Las Vegas Raiders‘ quarterback room was likely their biggest downfall last season. Gardner Minshew was named the Week 1 starter but didn’t last long before he was benched.
An injury derailed his season and he never had a chance to redeem himself. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Wednesday that the Raiders plan to release Minshew before the start of free agency. However, they may still be looking to make another move.
Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Review-Journal revealed that the Raiders are still trying to trade the veteran quarterback.
“It’s a long shot, but the Raiders will still try to trade Gardner Minshew,” Bonsignore wrote in a Tuesday X post. “At the very least, he’s still a viable back-up QB. If not, he will be released.”
As Bonsignore noted, it’s highly unlikely the Raiders will find a trade partner for Minshew. He has a $13.8 million dead cap hit next season and teams already know that Las Vegas is planning to release. He could be had for much cheaper in free agency. If the Raiders want to trade him, they’re likely going to have to take a loss. It could require a draft pick swap where they take a worse pick in return from a team that doesn’t mind taking on Minshew’s salary.
Raiders Could Be Eyeing Russell Wilson
Aidan O’Connell and Carter Bradley will be the only quarterbacks on the Raiders’ roster once Minshew is officially let go. The team is going to add to the room in the form of a veteran, a rookie or both.
For now, Russell Wilson might be the most obvious stopgap option. He worked with Pete Carroll on the Seattle Seahawks for years so it’d be an easy adjustment. NBC Sports’ Matthew Berry believes that Wilson could be in play for the Raiders.
“I heard that there’s something to the Pete Carroll – Russell Wilson reunion in Las Vegas rumors. I heard there have even been conversations and the thought process is, some version of: ‘Hey, we both got fired in Seattle, we were better together than apart, let’s figure out a way past our differences and run it back,’ or some such. It makes a lot of sense on a lot of levels,” Berry wrote in a March 4 column.
Raiders Don’t Have Ideal Option at QB
The Raiders’ best option at quarterback this offseason was Matthew Stafford. They tried hard to trade for him but he decided to stay with the Los Angeles Rams. It’s easy to see why the Raiders wanted to make that move considering how weak the quarterback market is this offseason.
The draft also doesn’t have many appealing prospects. The Raiders are likely going to be stuck with another stopgap option this offseason. Wilson makes sense in that regard. The Raiders wouldn’t need to make a long-term commitment to him. Wilson and a high-upside quarterback like Jalen Milroe might be the best the team can do this offseason.
Aaron Rodgers and Sam Darnold will likely also be looked at this offseason but Wilson will take less of a financial commitment than Darnold and he has less baggage than Rodgers.
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