With the quarterback market quickly drying up, playoff-caliber teams like the Colts, Bears, Patriots, and Washington Football Team might soon be calling the Raiders about their backup quarterback.
That is… if they already haven’t.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said last week that Marcus Mariota (and not Derek Carr) is the most likely quarterback option for the Patriots and an ESPN report on Sunday again linked Mariota to New England.
“Could Las Vegas QB Marcus Mariota be the most realistic option many are overlooking?” ESPN’s Mike Reiss wrote about the idea of Mariota headed to the Patriots.
“A case could be made for Mariota as the strongest possibility, based on potential availability, modest cost and upside. He has played under four coaches and five coordinators in six NFL seasons. Maybe the stability of the Belichick/Josh McDaniels pairing is a nice match for him.”
Given the short list of proven quarterbacks on the market, the Raiders should be able to get a mid-round pick for Mariota. In his one game with the Raiders this year, the former no. 2 overall pick looked as good as any quarterback currently on the trade block (the Texans still say they aren’t trading Deshaun Watson).
The Athletic’s Vic Tafur doesn’t expect Mariota to have trade value, but a team like the Patriots might have no choice but to trade for Mariota before the start of free agency. Without a quarterback in place, what free agent wide receiver is going to sign up to catch passes from Jarrett Stidham, Taylor Heinicke, Jacob Eason, or whoever the Bears currently have at quarterback?
So while all eyes are on Carr over the next few weeks, maybe keep a closer eye on Mariota. His $10 million contract will look very modest next to the cost of most starting quarterbacks in the NFL. And a mid-round pick should be a fair price to pay for him.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Ridiculous article,
Mariota in a grade 1 through 10 is a 9, Carr is a 6.5
Mariota was elite when he came out of college and Carr has never been elite.
Carr can neve match up to any of the QB’s that were in the playoff’s this year or last year. His win percentage is 42% meaning he has lost 58% of the time. There are no excuses, he’s been around to showcase his sub par serviceability for 7 years. Carr is fools gold. He’ll never take any team to the promised land. Dump Carr, keep Mariota.
100%
By far and away the only quarterback the Raiders should even consider trading is Carr and had been the
captain Mariota been at the helm the entire season like he should have been the Raiders would have been much better off regardless of the defensive issues! In one game Mariota not only brought excitement to the game, he brought something of major importance respect and confidence of the offense which has been lacking under Carr regardless of his stats! Stats mean nothing without wins and Carr; reminiscent of another stat champion with little result I wasn’t a fan of in Gannon, hasn’t shown post broken leg to have much of the same fire he had prior sans his bewilderment in post loss news conferences questioning the obvious. I’ve watched every game he’s played for the Raiders and he is not the answer any longer to the Raiders future success and the sooner the powers that be, who’ve made some questionable draft picks and play calling(see fish game in December among others) themselves realize this the extremely better position the Raiders will be to not only make the playoffs, go deep in the playoffs, but actually bring home the Lombardi trophy for the 4th time!!!
Makes perfect sense to me. Mariota makes way to much money for a backup
I think that they trade Carr to the Panthers or the Bears. I heard on PFF that they trade Carr to the Panthers for the #8 pick and a third round pick. Then take that pick with the #17 pick and Darren Waller and 2 more first rd picks to Houston for Watson!!. ARE YOU CRAZY!! NO WAY IS DESHAUN WATSON WORTH THAT PRICE!! He ain’t won nothing!! I might give you half that for Brady even now!! He is a great and PROVEN WINNER!! EASILY THE GREATEST FOOTBALL PLAYER WHO HAS EVERY PLAYED THE GAME!! And I don’t even like him but I do know greatness when I see it!!
I believe in Marcus Mariota 100%. I will tell anyone who will listen that this young man is one of the keys to the Raiders getting back to and winning the Superbowl. All he needs is the chance to get back under center again with a Coach that believes in him!! The Raiders have a great O-Line and if it breaks down he will not hesitate to run. If the defense gets better we can win now!! We have all the pieces. Trade Carr get a few more young defensive studs, another Guard, back up center, running back, and another receiver
All of the above post, about trading Carr instead of Mariotta, make perfectly good sense, to me. However, if the headless coach, of the Raiders, would resign the statistically worst quarterback in NFL history, what does that tell you about the current “leader” of the Raiders? And get this, he’s even “considering” signing a way past his prime Richard Sherman. A move like this, by Gruden, isn’t unprecedented because he signed a way past his prime Jason Witten last year and by playing Witten took snaps away from a 23 year old Foster Moreau. He’s going to sink the Raiders into further irrelevancy and get 10 million dollars a year richer for it. We, the Raiders, aren’t going anywhere other than the middle of the pack under Jon Gruden so get ready for six more years of ineptitude, bluster, bloviation, hyperbole, losses, snarls and excuses. He’s 19-29 so far and even if he wins 10 games this year he’ll be 29-36 overall. As the old saying goes; “Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”
Thank the football gods that Gruden and Mayock realize that Carr and the offense are the strength of the team and won’t do something foolish like trade a good QB. I have always been a Mariota fan but if a QB is to be traded he is the one. He is physically gifted player that has never quite lived up to his potential. I understand the emotion to blame the QB for the win loss record (I have felt the same way) but let’s get real and focus on fixing what’s broken. Anyone that has watched this team the last few years should realize the weakness is on the other side of the ball. The Raiders offense combined with a good defense will get us back in the playoffs so let’s hope our new DC and a few smart personnel moves can get us there.