Raiders’ Asking Price for Possible Aidan O’Connell Trade Revealed

For back-to-back seasons, Aidan O’Connell has had to come in and take over as the Las Vegas Raiders‘ starting quarterback. He’s played about as well as a team could expect from a fourth-round pick quarterback thrust into a difficult situation.

However, the Raiders have a new coaching staff and front office who might not see the point of keeping him around now that Geno Smith is in the building. Plus, Las Vegas is expected to add another quarterback at some point in the draft.

While O’Connell might not have much value to the Raiders, his starting experience could intrigue a team looking for a capable backup. The Athletic’s Vic Tafur previously suggested that the quarterback could be traded during draft weekend, and now he’s revealed what the Raiders are looking for in return.

“The Raiders traded for and gave a contract extension to veteran quarterback Geno Smith, which seemingly gives them a couple of years to groom a young successor,” Tafur wrote. “The Raiders’ new brass doesn’t seem that high on incumbent Aidan O’Connell and many expect them to try and trade him for a pick on Day 3 of the draft. (The Raiders were in on trade talks for New England Patriots backup Joe Milton, according to league sources, but the Dallas Cowboys got him for a fifth-round pick.)”

Should Raiders Trade O’Connell?

The Raiders likely aren’t looking at anything more than a sixth or seventh-round pick for O’Connell. While his 20 touchdowns to 11 interceptions over two seasons isn’t bad for a young quarterback, he’s going to already be 27 at the start of the season, and he lacks athletic upside.

That said, it makes sense why the Raiders are looking to move on. Smith will be entrenched as the starter for at least two seasons while the team potentially grooms a young quarterback. Considering O’Connell’s age and athletic ceiling, he isn’t the type of player the Raiders want to sit and learn behind Smith.

Now, he could be Smith’s backup while a rookie is the third string. That should be something the Raiders consider. If not, he should be able to find a backup job elsewhere.

Raiders Open to Drafting QB

The Raiders have done a lot of work on quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft class. General manager John Spytek made it known that Las Vegas is at least entertaining the idea of adding one.

“Remain open-minded,” Spytek said of the quarterback position ahead of the draft during a recent press conference. “Anybody that can help us at the position in particular is going to be up for consideration. You guys have all done your investigative journalism enough to know that we’ve brought some quarterbacks in, and that wasn’t by accident.

“We’re open to the most important position in sports to get right. We’re super excited to have Geno here, and we continue to expect him to be here for a while, but you can’t have too many of those guys.”

The first round may be too early to select a quarterback, but anything after that could be fair game for the Raiders.