The Raiders struck out in their efforts to trade for Matthew Stafford, but the stars might be starting to line up for another trade opportunity that was deemed nearly impossible a month ago.
By every account, the Vikings consider J.J. McCarthy their quarterback of the future, but as times goes by it seems like the odds are growing that Sam Darnold will return to Minnesota on a multi-year deal.
“A couple of weeks ago, I told you that people close to [Darnold] had told me that he would be willing to take less money to get a deal to stay in Minnesota. He likes it there. He respects the coaches, respects the organization,” Sports Illustrated’s Hondo Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast on Thursday.
Not long after Carpenter’s podcast, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport confirmed that Darnold could potentially return to the Vikings, although he said the team’s position (for now at least) would be that Darnold and McCarthy would compete for the starting job.
But according to Carpenter, if the Vikings sign Darnold to a multi-year deal, they might be willing to listen to offers for McCarthy.
“Last night, by someone who has been giving me information throughout this process, I was told that if Sam Darnold were to get a multi-year deal, that the chances would improve that Minnesota would trade him,” Hondo said.
“I can tell you this,” he continued. “If J.J. McCarthy were to become available, and I’ve said this on this podcast multiple times, I know that there would be interest from the Raiders. Now, interest doesn’t mean a trade would be imminent, but I know there would be interest there.”
It’s a long shot, but if the Raiders want McCarthy, they should very interested to see how the situation between Darnold and the Vikings plays out. There is some momentum moving towards Darnold returning to Minnesota and that can’t be a scenario that McCarthy and his representatives are excited about.
If the Vikings are comfortable with Darnold on a two or three-year deal and have an opportunity to get a couple premium picks for McCarthy, it’s hard to imagine they wouldn’t at least consider trading him.
On a side note, it has been rumored that Tom Brady is particularly high on McCarthy and the 22 year-old (from his alma mater no less) essentially checks all the boxes Brady is looking for in a young quarterback.
If anyone out there might be willing to sell the farm in a trade for McCarthy, it might be TB12 and the Raiders.
x: @raidersbeat
Get it done Raiders. Bring in Wilson as a back up.
I like this kid. Great pro style college system he flourished in. He looked great until he got hurt. Carved us up. He’s the only Q I’d give our pick for.
Great, hopefully this opens the door to the Gaints to trade for him. This guy is basically unproven, and now injured, he came from a rush-first offense at Michigan. Hoping the Raiders aren’t dumb enough to give their 1st rd pick for him. The fact that the Vikings are willing to go with Darnold instead of this guy should be a warning sign.