Las Vegas Has Already Benched Gardner Minshew This Season
The Las Vegas Raiders have something of an identity crisis under center, and their back-and-forth act doesn't appear to have an end in sight.
Head coach Antonio Pierce confirmed this week that second-year quarterback Aidan O'Connell will assume the starting role in Week 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers after replacing Gardner Minshew late in the third quarter of last week's blowout loss to the Denver Broncos.
However, Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report doesn't see that solution as one that will hold for long in Las Vegas.
"Don't get your hopes up for Aidan O'Connell, who is 1-for-6 with an interception and a 2.1 passer rating on deep attempts," Gagnon wrote on Friday, October 11. "We haven't seen the last of Gardner Minshew II in Las Vegas."
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew.
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Minshew may be more suited than O'Connell to play against certain opponents and vice versa, but at 2-3 with one change already effected, the Raiders appear closer to zero answers at QB than two circumstantial solutions.
And things will only get more difficult if, and probably when, the team grants star wide receiver Davante Adams his trade request and ships him to the New York Jets or Buffalo Bills or wherever he ends up landing.
The best solution to the Raiders' problems probably resides somewhere in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft, but that does nothing to help an organization that is clearly trying to win this season as well.
Enter free agent quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Former Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Tannehill hasn't signed anywhere yet, as he is waiting for an opportunity to come in as the starter and No. 1 option on a quality team -- like Joe Flacco did last year before leading the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs. Las Vegas may not be quite there yet, but another loss or two could tip the scales in that direction.
Tannehill played out a four-year contract worth $118 million with the Tennessee Titans in 2023, and Spotrac lists his market value at $7.7 million in 2024. Pro-rating that figure across an 18-game season, six contests of which will be gone after this weekend's outing, and the Raiders would be looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $5.1 million to bring Tannehill in for the remainder of the year.
Minshew is on a two-year, $25 million deal that keeps him under contract through 2025. O'Connell, meanwhile, is playing in the second season of a four-year rookie agreement worth just $4.4 million total.
The Raiders haven't overspent on their QB room in comparison to several other teams around the league facing similarly bad situations under center. As such, Las Vegas could justify $5 million for Tannehill if the franchise believes he makes them legitimate playoff contenders -- or at least more consistently competitive than they've been through five weeks.
The team has nearly $27 million in available cap space as of Friday. Meanwhile, Tannehill has amassed nearly 35,000 passing yards, 216 TDs and 115 INTs across 155 regular-season games played (151 starts) in the NFL.
He also led the Titans to the playoffs three straight times (2019-21), including one trip to the AFC Championship Game in 2019.
