A report on Tuesday gave a new detail to the reason Marcus Mariota has not yet been traded.
We’ve known the big issue has been his contract (teams don’t want to trade it), but the other factor seems to be the fact that Mariota is unwilling to amend his contract to accommodate a trade. In taking that approach, Mariota is essentially trying to force the Raiders hand to release him.
If the plan works and the Raiders cut him, Mariota will get to choose his team next year and potentially sign a better deal than what he has now.
But here is the issue with that strategy. Mariota probably only has a small window of opportunity if he stands firm with this approach.
Within the next three weeks, the Bears, Patriots, and Washington Football Team all figure to have a plan in place at quarterback. As starting opportunities begin to dry up, Mariota could find himself hitting the free agent pool at a time when teams aren’t as desperate for a quarterback and salary cap space isn’t what it is right now.
The Bears say they are looking at a quarterback no one is talking about, the Patriots may soon get impatient and revert back to Cam Newton, and someone is probably going to trade for Sam Darnold much sooner than later. A Darnold trade, if it happens, wouldn’t necessarily open up an opportunity for Mariota because the Jets would then figure to use the no. 2 pick on a quarterback in the draft.
Maybe the Seahawks or Texans will eventually need a quarterback, but that isn’t something Mariota can count on at this point.
Whatever happens, it’s going to be an interesting to watch play out over the next few weeks. The NFL is expected to have a flood of free agents enter the market this month and if Mariota’s plan works, he’ll be one of the players on the list.
If his plan doesn’t work, Mariota could miss out on his best opportunity (at least 3 playoff-ready teams need a quarterback) and leave a lot of money on the table in the process.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Although the Raiders could use the cap space, what if the Raiders just kept Mariota? They were able to keep him with that cap this year. Releasing someone like Trent Brown (and others) would give them some cap relief, and Gruden could use Mariota as a change of pace and dimension QB which would make the Raiders offense more difficult to scheme around and prepare for.
Releasing Trent Brown and keeping Mariota? In what world does that make sense?!? Oo
Yeah becareful what you wish for Marcus! Carr2021
Stay with the raiders !!!marcus!!! )
If Gruden didn’t put Mariota in on at least one wildcat play all of last season while Derek Carr was healthy, what makes you think Mariota will play next season. It’s best for both parties to go their separate ways by releasing Mariota now so the Raiders can rebuild on defense and Mariota can join a team that will build an offense around his playing style and maybe he can finally succeed in the NFL! If anything else Mariota would be the perfect bridge quarterback for another team. Raiders, you are not going to get a top 3 round pick anyway since Mariota doesn’t want to restructure his current contract so release him now for the betterment of both parties and start building for a successful 2021 season!
I’m going to say some things every one knows, but won’t talk about. First Mariota was a top 20 QB on a team for multiple years that stunk and had a revolving door on coaches, not many QBs could have done that. In his one game, with no playing time for over a year he was close to stellar. The GOAT threw 3 picks in a playoff game and still won thanks to the BUCs D. Mariota is worth every penny he is currently contracted to get. If you want to be truthful on his demise in Tennessee you need to go back and look at who didn’t perform and Henry pops right out at you. Now I can see in my mind, and although it is my opinion Henry gets incentives for TDs and yardage, but when you have a Mariota, that gets cut into….once Mariota was benched Henrys numbers miraculously jumped off the charts. You connect the dots and see what you come up with. Just sayin.