After failing to secure a young quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, Las Vegas Raiders general manager Tom Telesco has to get his guy in 2025, if for no other reason than self preservation.
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Not only did Telesco strike out on landing a quarterback in last year's draft, the guy he signed in free agency, Gardner Minshew, proved to be a disaster and waste of money.
Hindsight is always 20/20, of course, but the Raiders would've been much better off saving that money and just rolling with Aidan O'Connell. At least there would have been some semblance of hope with that approach.
Whatever the case may be, it would be shocking if the Raiders general manager failed to draft a quarterback again, and there's a chance he might have no choice but to, as there could be a mandate from ownership.
One NFL analyst, Sporting News' Vinnie Iyer, believes the Raiders will come away with Colorado's Shedeur Sanders with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 draft.
"Mark Davis has made no secret about how he would like someone of Sanders' flash to be the face of the franchise, and it's not crazy to think this could be a package deal to also land Deion for better prime-time action in Las Vegas," Iyer wrote.
Whether or not Deion would come with Shedeur remains to be seen, but just landing Shedeur would be more than enough.
At the very least, he's one of the best quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft, and there are plenty of experts out there who view Sanders, who made an estimated $6.2 million in NIL deals in college, as the best.
No matter your opinion of who is No. 1, there's no question that Sanders would ignite some much-needed hope and excitement in a Raiders fan base that desperately needs it right now.
But the Raiders need to make sure they have the right support system in place in order to put Sanders in the best position possible to succeed.
Having Tom Brady around will be great, but more importantly the Raiders need to make sure they have the right head coach and staff to take them into the future. Right now, Las Vegas doesn't have that.
