All those snarky rhetorical jokes about whether the Raiders' quarterback situation could get any worse just got an actual answer.
Things didn't look great when Raiders starter Aidan O'Connell had to get carted off the field in Week 14's loss in Tampa Bay. The team didn't have many details to provide immediately after the game, but head coach Antonio Pierce told reporters that the injury 'didn't look good.'
And while nothing's been officially announced yet, more news about O'Connell's injury is starting to surface on Sunday night. According to Fox Sports' NFL Insider Jordan Schultz, the Raiders are worried that O'Connell did in fact suffer a season-ending knee injury. He'll have some additional testing to confirm that, but the team isn't optimistic.
Raiders reportedly fear that Aidan O'Connell suffered a season-ending surgery in Week 14's loss
For those keeping track at home, that would be the second Raiders' quarterback to suffer a season-ending surgery this year – Gardner Minshew, the Week 1 starter, broke his collar bone in the Week 12 loss to the Broncos. That would make Desmond Ridder – who wasn't even on the roster until late October – would be in line to start the last four games of the Raiders' season.
And not unlike Minshew, this could also wrap up O'Connell's time with the Raiders. The team is rumored to be hyper-focused on finding the next franchise quarterback in this year's draft, and as things stand after Week 14, the Raiders are in line to have the first overall pick. And even if they end up a little farther down the board, they'll still probably be in line to draft Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward.
O'Connell still has two years left on his rookie contract, so the idea of him returning as the backup is certainly feasible, but if the Raiders decide to move on from Antonio Pierce and bring in someone new, it wouldn't be entirely surprising to see both sides go their separate ways.
