The Las Vegas Raiders have only one playoff appearance in their last eight seasons, and until they figure out the quarterback position, that brutal trend will continue.
The Raiders got a look at Gardner Minshew, Desmond Ridder and Aidan O’Connell in 2024, and they’ve likely seen enough. With a new regime in place, led by head coach Pete Carroll and minority owner Tom Brady, you can almost guarantee that Vegas will address the team’s most glaring weakness either in free agency or the draft.
Jacob Camenker of USA TODAY is eyeing the mysterious situation playing out in Minnesota as the Raiders’ most likely solution. With 2024 starter — and Pro Bowler — Sam Darnold expected to hit the open market this March, Camenker predicts the Raiders will prioritize paying Darnold to ensure more stable quarterback play going forward.
Here was Camenker’s take on the Raiders ponying up what PFF projects will be a three-year deal in the neighborhood of $123.75 million for Darnold:
The Raiders aren’t guaranteed to land the top two quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL draft, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, so Darnold looks like a good stopgap with upside. The soon-to-be 28-year-old is coming off his best-ever season under Kevin O’Connell but should come at a reasonable price after imploding in Minnesota’s final two games.
If the Raiders are really in on Darnold at the start of the new league year — which arrives on March 10 with the legal tampering window for free agents — they’ll most likely be competing with the Vikings.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell helped Darnold reach his potential in 2024 as a former No. 3 overall draft pick, but there’s no doubt a superb supporting cast led by Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones and T.J. Hockenson helped. The Vikings will want to avoid paying Darnold north of $40 million per year, but they’ll likely explore another short-term contract that would keep him ahead of J.J. McCarthy on the depth chart for at least another year.
With the second-most projected cap space in the NFL, the Raiders could justify paying Darnold what it would take to pry him away from Minnesota while still adding weapons. The Raiders will need to fix the league’s worst rushing attack and build around superstar tight end Brock Bowers at the skill positions to make signing Darnold worth the investment.
Darnold has never won a playoff game in his seven-year pro career, and he played one of his worst games of the season in Minnesota’s wild-card round loss to the Los Angeles Rams, tying an NFL record by taking nine sacks. In other words, there’s no guarantee that Darnold will fix the Raiders’ longstanding playoff woes if this hypothetical signing comes to fruition.
But coming off a season that saw him clear 4,300 yards and 35 touchdowns, Darnold is a clear and obvious upgrade over what the Raiders have now. Adding the top free agent QB on the market would make a lot of sense for Las Vegas, but they’ll want to double down with another young quarterback behind Darnold — possibly in this year’s draft? — to cover their bases and have a true succession plan in place.
MORE: Vikings expected $88.3 million free agent predicted to ditch Minnesota for Raiders
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