Raiders Quarterback Situation Is One Only Tom Brady Can Save
Maybe the prayers from Sin City work and Tom Brady comes out of retirement to play for the Las Vegas Raiders. That way he can own the whole heart of the city instead of just a small piece of the team as a minority owner.
Maybe the speculation that Brady is wavering about retirement and could return to play for friend and Raiders owner Mark Davis is more than just smoke.
Maybe that's the grand plan to cure the quarterback drought in the desert.
Las Vegas Aces owner Mark Davis, center left, sits next to NFL superstar Tom Brady during the first half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final series between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty at Michelob ULTRA Arena on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Tom Brady Could Save Raiders
If the Raiders don't at least ask Brady to come out of retirement and play for them, well, they're not doing their jobs.
But if this doesn't manifest, the Raiders are in trouble. Because the Las Vegas quarterback situation is not good – and we define not good as the least hopeful in the AFC West, the worst in the AFC, and arguably the most troubled in the entire NFL.
The Raiders have journeyman Gardner Minshew and second-year veteran Aidan O'Connell ready to do battle for the starting quarterback job now.
So the Raiders have two backup quarterback types vying for their starting job.
Everyone knows this. Sees this.
Even the Raiders, who are about to go on a campaign to tell everyone Minshew and O'Connell are really good, see this when they're not publicly trying to fool people the situation is fine.
HENDERSON, NEVADA - JANUARY 24: Tom Telesco speaks as he is introduced as the general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders during a news conference also introducing Antonio Pierce as the team's head coach at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center on January 24, 2024 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Tom Telesco Quit QB Chase
We understand this because during last week's NFL draft, general manager Tom Telesco hoped to get an actually good quarterback in the first round to possibly rescue things.
The problem is Telesco failed in that first round. And then he quit trying after that.
"On the third day? No. Really not the second day either," Telesco said of his quarterback efforts in rounds two through seven. "First day, yes. But not after that."
Telesco is the club's first-year general manager who built multiple good rosters in Los Angeles for the Chargers over the previous decade. He's a good personnel man.
But in that decade, Telesco also gained a reputation for not really moving around too much in the draft via trades.
So, the Raiders, scheduled to pick No. 13 overall in the first round, stayed where they started and selected tight end Brock Bowers.
Other Teams Addressed Their QB Need
The Raiders added a quarterback security blanket in perhaps the best tight end of the draft. And they added Michael Gallup in free agency earlier this week to continue building a good receiver corps.
But all this work to help Raiders quarterbacks overlooks the best way to improve QB play and that's by signing a legit starting quarterback in free agency or picking a top rookie prospect in the draft.
In a draft where the Atlanta Falcons did the unorthodox to secure their QB spot, the Vikings traded up to address their QB need, and the Broncos probably overdrafted Bo Nix to set their QB room, the Raiders did … nothing.
"Yeah, if we felt there was a quarterback out there that was better than we had, or could potentially be better, certainly we would have done something out of it," Telesco said. "But it didn't line up."
Oh well, on to the 2025 draft when the Raiders will have a high pick because they had low quarterback output this coming season.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 04: Gardner Minshew #10 of the Indianapolis Colts and AFC celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the 2024 NFL Pro Bowl at Camping World Stadium on February 04, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Minshew Good Enough To Frustrate
This is not meant to demean Minshew or O'Connell. No, really.
Minshew's statistics state quite clearly he has delivered solid enough seasons throughout his first five years – with 59 TD passes to 24 interceptions and a career passer rating of 90.2.
Minshew helped the Indianapolis Colts stay relevant last season when rookie starter Anthony Richardson went out with an shoulder injury last season.
But if you watch Minshew actually play, it's easy to see why he's on his fourth team as he prepares for his sixth NFL season: He misses a lot of throws a good NFL quarterback makes.
It's seriously frustrating.
I saw him miss at least three makeable throws – two on bombs for likely touchdowns – in one Jacksonville game against the Dolphins years ago. Those misses changed the course of the game.
He missed a routine throw late in the season-finale for the Colts land that cost the team a chance to make the playoffs. Everyone says the ball was dropped and it was. It was dropped because it was thrown in a bad spot and a good throw makes the matter moot.
Minshew misfires just enough to lose.
ARLINGTON, TX - AUGUST 26: Aidan O'Connell #4 of the Las Vegas Raiders throws before a preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on August 26, 2023 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Aidan O'Connell Is A Hope
Well, how about O'Connell? A lot of people like him. The Raiders obviously thought no one in the later rounds would be an upgrade even though they drafted O'Connell in the fourth round last year.
The Raiders can hope O'Connell improves and becomes a revelation when Minshew gets benched following one of his inexplicable misses that costs his team a game.
But how does that hope compare to the Chiefs having Patrick Mahomes? And the Chargers having Justin Herbert? How does the Raiders' hope their 2023 fourth-rounder is good compare to the Broncos' hope their 2024 first-rounder is good?
Keep praying for Tom Brady Sin City.