Now that the NFL season has officially concluded, the Las Vegas Raiders will look to get to work on their free agency plans. As the franchise holds the sixth pick in 2025 NFL Draft, there is no guarantee that they will select a quarterback, but there are plenty of free agent options on the market.
The Raiders have been linked to several veteran quarterbacks this offseason in various predictions, but according to ESPN Senior Insider Adam Schefter, the Raiders may be making a big splash in free agency when revolving around their quarterback need.
"One team that I would watch with Sam Darnold moving forward would be the Las Vegas Raiders," Schefter said. "I think at some point in time, they {Raiders} are likely to have some interest in trying to bring Sam Darnold to Las Vegas. We'll see if they can make that happen."
Darnold has been in past predictions as fans and insiders speculate where the Minnesota Vikings quarterback could end up in 2025. The Vikings have expressed wanting to bring back Darnold, per Schefter, but it would only happen if they brought out the check book.
The Raiders have $94 million in cap space, so if they were serious about bringing in Darnold, they would have the money to do so. The only question is if they should.
Darnold had the best season of his career in the regular season with the Vikings, playing in 17 games, recording 4,319 passing yards, tossed 35 touchdowns and had a 60.5 quarterback rating. All the statistics listed are career high for Darnold.
However, Darnold might have taken a big chunk of change away from his next contract after the performance he and the Vikings had against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Wild Card game. If the Raiders still see the upside of regular season dominance with Darnold, he could easily slide into the role.
Having receivers in Jakobi Meyers, Brock Bowers, and Tre Tucker, Darnold would have a slew of strong options to pass the football to. The running back position also sits up in the air, but the first need of the offseason is to acquire that quarterback to work under Chip Kelly and Pete Carroll.
