As the Raiders wait for one of their quarterbacks to emerge as a starting quarterback, it’s fair to wonder what the long-term plan will be if Aidan O’Connell or Gardner Minshew don’t turn out to be the team’s long-term solution at the position.
The Raiders have a roster that should be ready to compete for a Super Bowl if they can lock down the quarterback position, so that will be a high priority for GM Tom Telesco between now and the start of free agency in March.
It’s hard to know what quarterback options will be available in six months, but Yahoo and FOX Sports analyst Jason Fitz brought up a name that Raider fans might want to keep an eye on in the near future.
In a segment this week on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate, Fitz said he thinks the Raiders might be in the mix for Dak Prescott, assuming O’Connell or Minshew don’t have a phenomenal 2024 season.
“I stand by my predication I’ve had for months at this point,” Fitz said. “Everybody keeps saying that if Dak [Prescott] doesn’t get a deal done with the Cowboys by the time the regular season starts, then it’s likely Dak is not going to do a deal. He can’t be franchised [and] he can’t be traded. I think he’s going to hit the open market if they haven’t done a deal by the beginning of the season. So I have my eye on the Dak news every single day because as I talked to one insider the other day, there is a real consensus around the league that if Dak hits the open market, somebody somewhere is going to give him a three or four year contract that is fully guaranteed at a massive amount of money and the Cowboys wouldn’t be able to match it even if they wanted to.”
Everyone knows Raiders owner Mark Davis isn’t afraid to spend money and if he thinks Prescott can be the long-term answer at the position, Fitz thinks that could be the direction the Raiders will go.
“So, what do I think, honestly?” Fitz added. “My prediction right now is that the Raiders are good enough to win a lot of football games this year, but it’s not going to be easy. And I think next year they are going to make an aggressive move to try and bring in somebody like Dak.”
The other “aggressive move” the Raiders could consider, depending on how the season plays out for the New York Jets, is a trade for Aaron Rodgers. As long as Davante Adams is on the roster and the Raiders are competitive, Rodgers can’t be ruled out as a possibility.
Outside of Prescott and Rodgers (who might not be going anywhere), there aren’t any big-name quarterbacks expected to be available in a year, so the solution everyone in Las Vegas is rooting for right now is that O’Connell or Minshew can be the quarterback of the future.
It’s a long shot… but you never know.
As an aside, the Raiders had the opportunity to draft Prescott in 2016. Derek Carr was firmly in place as the team’s starting quarterback, but GM Reggie McKenzie wanted to invest in a young backup. McKenzie passed on Prescott at pick 100 and selected Michigan State quarterback Conner Cook, instead.
Prescott was taken 35 picks later by the Cowboys. Tyreek Hill was taken 29 picks after Prescott by the Chiefs.
x: @raidersbeat