Are the Raiders operating under a mandate from owner Mark Davis to take a quarterback in the 2025 draft?
“I’ve heard the football people there could be under a mandate to draft a quarterback in April,” Breer reported on Tuesday. “And if that’s the plan, whoever the head coach is will have a pretty big impact on who that quarterback is, and how he develops early in his career. This makes the question whether Mark Davis believes Pierce would be the right guy to captain the ship.”
Going into last week the Raiders appeared desperate for a quarterback, but Aidan O’Connell will have the final five weeks of the season to change that perception
O’Connell got off to a good start on ‘Black Friday’ against the Chiefs and will face several defenses weaker than Kansas City in the weeks ahead.
As for the notion of a quarterback mandate in Las Vegas, ESPN beat writer Paul Gutierrez reported this week that there is no mandate…
“And the reemerging rumors of Davis issuing a mandate that general manager Tom Telesco must draft a quarterback? Simply not true, said a team source with knowledge of the situation.”
Mandate or no mandate, there’s a good chance the Raiders draft a quarterback in the first round even if O’Connell plays well to close out the season.
“I don’t think it matters what Aidan does the rest of the way,” The Athletic’s Vic Tafur said this week on the Just Win podcast.
“He’s not going to win this job for next year in the last five weeks. I think they’ll bring somebody in. Maybe draft and [add] a veteran guy. But clearly they know quarterback is still a big need even with Aidan in the mix.”
