Raiders trade prediction rids Las Vegas of $25 million mistake - suong

   

Gardner Minshew beats Aidan O'Connell for Raiders QB job – NBC 5  Dallas-Fort WorthThe Las Vegas Raiders made their latest failed attempt to shore up the quarterback position in 2024, a result that was hardly surprising to anyone who was paying attention.

Instead of simply rolling with Aidan O'Connell for another season, the Raiders made the decision to sign Gardner Minshew in free agency to offer some competition for the former fourth-round pick.

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Both quarterbacks failed to separate themselves in the competition, and that led to the Raiders rolling with Minshew to begin the season, which proved to be a bad decision.

Minshew was eventually benched for his poor play and replaced by O'Connell, who should have been the starter from the get-go, something even former head coach Antonio Pierce admitted.

While it remains to be seen what the Raiders will do with their quarterbacks in 2025, ESPN's Ben Solak believes they will keep O'Connell and trade Minshew. He also predicts that the Raiders will come away with one of Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Raiders will almost certainly have another camp quarterback battle next offseason, but between whom? I predict they'll trade Gardner Minshew to a team that needs a veteran, opening the competition between Aidan O'Connell and a rookie early draft pick, either Sanders or Ward. It's a bad quarterback class, but the Raiders are so desperate I could see them trading up to be the team that takes the first passer off the board

The Raiders hold the No. 6 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, so they are in striking distance to land Sanders or Ward, whether that be via sticking and picking or trading up. Las Vegas must be aggressive in their pursuit of one or the other.

As far as Minshew is concerned, moving on from him by either trade or cut would result in the Raiders eating dead money. However, trading him would lead to less dead money and more cap savings.

Assuming the Raiders make their decision pre-June 1, cutting Minshew would cost $7.6 million in dead money while saving $6.3 million in cap space. Trading him would cost $4.5 million and save $9.5 million, per Over the Cap.

Now, the Raiders are flush with cap space, so this isn't a make-or-break situation for them, but ideally Las Vegas erases this mistake with as little pain as possible. There should be at least some interest in Minshew, who remains a solid backup.

In Solak's scenario, the Raiders can use O'Connell as a means of competition for whoever they draft, and the Purdue product can step in as the starter should the drafted quarterback need more time.

The problem with that scenario is the Raiders aren't guaranteed to land one of the best quarterbacks in the draft, which is why you'll see plenty of speculation about Las Vegas adding a veteran quarterback. If the Raiders do that, there can be no  more half measures. That means no more Gardner Minshews or Jimmy Gs.

Barring the Raiders having an opportunity to sign or trade for a true difference-maker under center, we expect Las Vegas to go the route Solak predicts, with O'Connell sticking around and competing with a rookie quarterback — and hopefully that rookie quarterback is Ward or Sanders.