Getty
Tom Brady with Mark Davis.
The Las Vegas Raiders‘ quarterback room has been a mess this season and it’s only getting messier with the recent knee injury to Aidan O’Connell. While it’s still possible that he can play this season, it doesn’t change the fact that the team needs to upgrade the position.
There’s been some speculation that the Raiders could go after a veteran like Kirk Cousins or Sam Darnold in free agency, but that seems unlikely based on a recent report from Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson. He was able to get some intel on the team’s plan for the position.
“The likeliest path — from what I was told from two Raiders sources — is targeting potential extensions inside the team and then prioritizing the selection of the best rookie quarterback, followed by a penitent development of the roster,” Robinson wrote in a Dec. 9 column. “Could that mean a pivot away from Pierce as head coach after only one season? That all depends on how the 2024 campaign ends and also the available options for pairing with a new starting quarterback.”
Based on this, it appears the Raiders don’t have plans to go after a veteran quarterback and would prefer to focus on developing a rookie.
Raiders Had Eyes on Michael Penix Jr.?
The Raiders were widely expected to be in the quarterback market in this year’s draft before six quarterbacks were selected ahead of them. According to Robinson, he believes the team had eyes on former Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. before he was surprisingly selected at No. 8 by the Atlanta Falcons.
“I don’t think that was the plan. I think the Raiders’ brass, including general manager Tom Telesco, believed Michael Penix Jr. would fall far enough in the 2024 draft to make his selection viable on their own draft board,” Robinson wrote. “What the front office didn’t anticipate was that Penix had a higher premium on him in other organizations, and that the 2024 pool of quarterbacks was exponentially better than what was coming in the 2025 pipeline.”
Penix has yet to play meaningful snaps this season so it remains to be seen if he would’ve been the right quarterback for the Raiders.
Details on Tom Brady’s Involvement Emerge
A major factor for the Raiders going forward is that Tom Brady is involved in ownership after buying a stake in the team. One source gave some insight into how involved Brady has been so far and how involved they expect him to be going forward.
“It’s not like we’ve had meetings with Brady sitting in them,” a Raiders source told Robinson. “But [Brady] isn’t a figurehead. [Davis] obviously respects him. This is what he wants and it’s the whole point [of Brady’s ownership]. [Brady] will impact some decisions, or, he’s going to impact Mark’s opinion. It’s the same thing at this point. It’s not like [the front office] doesn’t matter. But it’s not like Mark will blow Tom off when it comes to the quarterbacks and where it goes — not happening. It’s the opposite. Mark will ask him, ‘What do you think?’ and then that’s what Mark thinks. … What Tom will say about quarterbacks, I’d bet you that’s what goes. That’s what I think will happen. Maybe I’m wrong. We’ll see. But I think who [Tom] likes, Mark likes. We’ll see. It’s gonna be a ride.”
