Proposed Raiders trade would send $37 million quarterback to Las Vegas

The Las Vegas Raiders are set to go back to the drawing board at quarterback once again in 2025, as the team has not found it's long-term answer at the position in either Gardner Minshew or Aidan O'Connell.

Granted, O'Connell didn't get many opportunities this season before he got injured, but he also lost out in the competition against Minshew, and he wasn't very good in his limited opportunities when he did see the field in the regular season.

Meanwhile, Minshew has been a turnover machine and a complete disaster, which has led to him getting benched on multiple occasions. It's very clear Minshew isn't going to be the long-term answer in Las Vegas, as many suspected.

While the Raiders will no doubt be looking for their quarterback of the future in the 2025 NFL Draft, USA TODAY's Tyler Dragon would like to see them hedge their bet and trade for Carolina Panthers quarterback, Bryce Young, at the trade deadline.

The Panthers say they have a plan for Young. But maybe their plan is to trade him and recoup some of the draft capital they lost to get him. Carolina lacks talent on both sides of the football. It’s hard for any quarterback to achieve success without a good sporting cast.

The Raiders benched Gardner Minshew multiple times this year and aren’t committed to Aidan O'Connell, either. The Raiders could start over at QB with Young and simultaneously give the second-year QB a fresh start. Young and rookie TE Brock Bowers are promising building blocks on offense.

Young has struggled mightily over his first year-plus in the NFL, which led to him getting benched earlier in the season. Young has been under center the past few weeks in the wake of an injury to Andy Dalton and has been slightly better, although not enough to consider him fixed.

Adding Young would give the Raiders a possible long-term solution and fallback option at quarterback just in case Las Vegas ends up out of the range of the top signal-callers in next year's draft.

The former No. 1 overall pick, who still has two years left on his four-year, $37.9 million rookie contract plus a fifth-year option if it gets picked up, could also provide competition if the Raiders do land a quarterback in the draft.

But he's also a project and there's no guarantee he'll pan out, so the deal would obviously come with some risk for Las Vegas. How high that risk is would be reliant upon what the Panthers are looking for, of course.

That said, according to reports, it doesn't look like the Panthers are going to deal Young at the deadline and will instead wait until the offseason to assess the situation.

"The Panthers were encouraged by his improvements and overall commitment to the team in his return to the field last week," The Athletic's Dianna Russini wrote Saturday. "I do expect the team will assess everything this offseason and make a decision on Young’s future in Carolina."

Whether it's at the trade deadline or next offseason, the Raiders should explore a trade for Young if it comes at a reasonable price. With how bad things are at the quarterback position currently in Las Vegas, the franchise needs to give itself as many options as possible in 2025.