ESPN's Benjamin Solak recently named the Las Vegas Raiders as among the most likely destinations for Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, but that doesn't mean they're going to acquire him.
Darnold can extend in Minnesota prior to March, before any other team can negotiate with him, per league rules. Furthermore, if he gets to free agency, there will likely be interest from multiple teams as a handful are in the market for a new QB but the free agent and NFL draft classes are weak at that position this offseason.
Solak also noted both the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers as strong potential landing spots for Darnold, operating under the assumption that the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns -- at pick Nos. 1 and 2, respectively -- will take Cam Ward of Miami and Shedeur Sanders of Colorado off the board in one order or the other.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
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Sifting through all of the possibilities, Solak predicted that if the Raiders don't land Darnold then they will sign two former Super Bowl champion quarterbacks on one-year deals: Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets and Russell Wilson of the Steelers.
"Wilson was not enough of a bridge QB for the Steelers this season, and given his below-average caliber of play, he should not be enough for the Raiders either," Solak wrote on Tuesday, Jan. 28. "With Rodgers and Wilson on one-year deals, though, the likelihood for functional quarterbacking doubles (and the potential for preposterous locker room hijinks increases by a factor of 10)."
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson
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Wilson will be a free agent in March assuming he doesn't ink an extension in Pittsburgh before then.
Rodgers is technically under contract with the Jets in 2025, but new head coach Aaron Glenn has not committed to him and New York can save $41 million by cutting the QB in the coming months.
"It would cost the Jets over $90 million to keep Rodgers next season, whereas cutting him before the 2025 season would cost them only $49 million overall," Solak wrote.
