One of the more notable quarterbacks who was available in the offseason was Justin Fields. The former Chicago Bears first-round pick was available in a trade after the team drafted Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick.
The Las Vegas Raiders were one of the teams in need of a quarterback and were a logical fit for Fields considering his former offensive coordinator in Chicago Luke Getsy had taken the same position with the Raiders. However, Fields ended up getting traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but Las Vegas was among the teams considering him, according to the quarterback.
“I’m not sure of all the teams, but you know, there were a lot of teams that had already had solidified quarterbacks there,” Fields said on the September 26 episode of the “Not Just Football podcast with Cam Heyward.” “And I don’t wanna be … I think Chargers was one, Ravens was another.
“Raiders, they talked a little bit. I don’t know too much. But a lot of the teams, they already had solidified quarterbacks, and they just got new contracts, so I wasn’t really trying to be there, because I kind of know how that shakes out.”
Fields became the Steelers’ starter due to an injury to Russell Wilson and is 3-0 so far this season.
Why Didn’t Raiders Trade for Just Fields?
In hindsight, the Raiders may have wanted to consider Fields more strongly. The Steelers got him for a conditional sixth-round pick that can go as high as a fourth-round pick if he plays a majority of the team’s snaps this season. That’s a small price to pay for a quarterback who wins games.
However, Fields never made sense for the Raiders as soon as they hired Getsy. The pairing didn’t work in Chicago, which is why they’re both with different franchises right now. Fields likely wouldn’t have wanted to play for Getsy again and vice versa.
While the Steelers are 3-0 with Fields leading the offense, that more has to do with the NFL’s best defense that’s only allowing 8.7 points a game. The Raiders’ defense hasn’t been nearly that good so it’s hard to see how they’d be much better with Fields at quarterback.
Raiders Rallying Behind Gardner Minshew
Following the brutal 36-22 upset at the hands of the Carolina Panthers, there was some speculation that the Raiders would consider benching Gardner Minshew. However, the team has decided to stick with him at quarterback for now and he has the support of the locker room.
Defensive end Maxx Crosby made it clear that the team supports Minshew as the starting quarterback.
“Gardner’s our guy. We know that,” Crosby said on on the September 24 episode of SiriusXM’s “Let’s Go Podcast.” “Obviously we love Aidan. Aidan’s a stud. He helped us win a lot of games last year. But Gardner’s our guy. At the end of the day, I just wanna win. Gardner’s our quarterback, he’s our captain, and he has done a hell of a job so far. I mean, it wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t good enough, but it’s across the board. It’s not just Gardner, it’s not just the o-line, or receiver, whoever it is, it’s a collective group effort.”
