The Las Vegas Raiders will face one heck of a challenge in trying to fix their quarterback situation for 2025, as they may not be able to land one via the NFL Draft.
The Raiders have the sixth overall pick in April, which will severely inhibit their chances of landing one of Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward.
Yes, there has been some speculation that Sanders' stock is dropping, which could result in Las Vegas having the ability to nab him at No. 6 without even trading up. But given the amount of quarterback-needy teams drafting in front of the Raiders, that seems unlikely.
Taking all of that into consideration, the Raiders may have to dip into the free-agent pool to find an answer under center, and it's looking more and more like Sam Darnold could be their man.
ESPN's Adam Schefter has reported that Las Vegas seems likely to target Darnold next month, which would be a risky proposition, to say the least.
"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're likely to have some interest in trying to bring Darnold to Las Vegas. We'll see if they can make that happen."
On paper, Darnold looks like a potential home run of a pickup. After all, the 27-year-old just threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 66.2 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 102.5 en route to a Pro Bowl appearance.
However, prior to 2024, Darnold was widely considered a bust. The former No. 3 overall pick failed in his stints with both the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before spending a year as Brock Purdy's backup with the San Francisco 49ers.
As a matter of fact, in six NFL seasons before joining the Vikings, Darnold totaled 63 passing touchdowns and 56 picks. Not exactly a great ratio.
So, did the USC product really break out this past year? Or was he merely a product of a fantastic group of Minnesota weapons that included Justin Jefferson?
As tempting as it may be for the Raiders to find out, they may want to avoid handing him a lucrative long-term deal. We'll see what happens, though.
