With the hiring of Pete Carroll as head coach, the Las Vegas Raiders have shown that they aren’t looking for a total rebuild. A team doesn’t hire the oldest coach in NFL history just to take it easy for a couple of seasons.
However, the Raiders aren’t going anywhere without an upgrade at quarterback. There was previously a lot of talk about the team being aggressive in the draft to find one but now speculation is growing for another option.
Out of all the free agent quarterback options, Sam Darnold is the best. He was a Pro Bowler for the Minnesota Vikings this season and is still only 27. Though he didn’t play for Carroll at USC, the coach’s legacy runs deep in that program.
With that in mind, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report is predicting that the Raiders will sign Darnold in free agency.
“If Darnold departs for a QB-needy team with cap flexibility, the Las Vegas Raiders would make a ton of sense,” Knox wrote in a Jan. 30 column. “They need a long-term answer behind center, might not find one with the sixth pick in the draft and have $93 million in projected cap space.”
Darnold a Better Option Than Russell Wilson?
There’s also been chatter that the Raiders will target Russell Wilson, who played under Carroll for over a decade in Seattle. However, he’s much older at 36 and has been on the decline in recent years.
Knox explained why Darnold could make more sense.
“Darnold would also mesh with the blueprint of new head coach Pete Carroll, assuming he looks to replicate his Seattle Seahawks formula,” Knox wrote. “The 2018 No. 3 pick has the physical tools to be a high-end game manager and an occasional playmaker, one who can complement a strong running game and defense.
“Carroll could look to reunite with Russell Wilson, though there’s no guarantee he won’t re-sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
The only advantage to Wilson is that he’d be much cheaper. Spotrac has Darnold’s market value at $40.1 million and he’ll likely be looking at a contract that pays him that annual salary for several seasons. That’s a big contract to give a quarterback who was thought of as a bust before this season.
Is Drafting a QB the Best Option?
Drafting a quarterback is always the best option for a team. If you take him in the first round, he’s cheap for at least five seasons. That gives the team ample time to build around him before having to pay him big money.
The problem is that this is considered a weak quarterback class. Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders might be the only ones worth a first-round pick. Plus, the Raiders might not be in range to land either of them.
With next year being considered a stronger class, the team’s best strategy could be to build up the rest of the roster and just give a one-year deal to a stopgap quarterback like Wilson. Then the roster is in a much better place to help a young quarterback succeed. It’s not ideal to keep pushing off the quarterback issue but if Sanders or Ward don’t fall to them at No. 6, it might be the best strategy.
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