The Las Vegas Raiders, as they head into their sixth NFL season in the team’s new home after 16 years in Oakland, finally appear ready to start a new era. And that new era will need to start with a new quarterback. According to a recent prediction by a leading sports media outlet, that fresh QB face could come from an organization to which the new-look Raiders are developing some serious links.
Here’s how the Raiders got to this point. Since relocating to Nevada, the three-time Super Bowl-winning franchise has scraped together exactly one winning season. That was 2021 when the Raiders won 10 games and got into the playoffs, though they lost in the Wild Card round to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Of course, that was also the season when head coach Jon Gruden resigned five games into the season over revelations that he used repeated racist, sexist and anti-gay slurs in emails over a 10-year period. Gruden was in just the fourth season of 10-year, $100 million contract, at the time the richest deal ever for an NFL coach.
Raiders Look to Patriot Way to Begin New Dawn in Vegas
The Raiders have not cracked the .500 mark since, culminating in last season’s 4-13 finish and the firing of head coach Antonio Pierce after a season-and-a-half. Pierce was hired in 2023 after the Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels after one full season and a partial one.
In short, the Raiders have seen dark days since relocating to Sin City after the 2019 season. But they finally appear ready to turn the page and look ahead with optimism. First, they took on the consensus greatest quarterback of all time, seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, as a minority owner and gave him a significant voice in team decision-making. Brady of course played 20 years with the New England Patriots, winning six of his Super Bowl rings.
Next, the Raiders hired their new coach, going for another Super Bowl winner in Pete Carroll, who coached the Seattle Seahawks for 14 seasons. But Carroll previously coached the Patriots, compiling a 27-21 record and a 2-1 record in playoff games from 1997 to 1999.
Now, according to SI.com football writer Evan Massey, the next Raiders quarterback could also come from the Patriots.
“The New England Patriots have a decision to make during the upcoming NFL offseason,” Massey wrote. “Joe Milton III could either be kept as their backup quarterback or they could consider trading him for draft capital.”
Joe Milton III Isn’t Called ‘Bazooka Joe’ For Nothing
Milton, the MVP of the 2023 Orange Bowl in his junior year at Tennessee, is known for his extraordinary athleticism and cannon arm, which has earned him the nickname “Bazooka Joe.” In his lone start in 2024, he threw a pass recorded at nearly 62 mph, the second-fastest even clocked in NFL history.
With quarterback duties in 2024 being doled out among Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell and Desmond Ridder, the Raiders will obvioulsy need to make a move to acquire a new signal-caller. With the sixth pick in draft, in a class widely seen as thin on quarterback talent, the Raiders could look to the Patriots once again, possibly dealing their second third-round pick, 73rd overall, or fourth rounder (107th) top acquire 2024 sixth-rounder Milton.
Milton would also come with low risk, entering the second year of a four-season, $4.2 million rookie contract.
The Raiders are likely to look kindly on a quarterback who fell to the sixth round. Brady himself was picked in the sixth, 199th overall, in the 2000 draft. Milton was selected 193rd, in nearly the identical spot as Brady.
The Raiders, according to Sportsnaut‘s Andrew Buller-Russ, will find themselves in a tough spot “as they search for a quarterback this offseason. There are only two quarterbacks projected to be selected in the first round. This means the Raiders will likely have to sign yet another veteran, as they did last year with Gardner Minshew, yet if it were us, weâd be calling about the availability of Milton.”
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