Raiders predicted to trade for $18 million quarterback at the deadline

The Las Vegas Raiders will have to go back to the drawing board at quarterback in 2025, as the Gardner Minshew experiment failed miserably and Aidan O'Connell didn't prove to be much better before he got injured.

The Raiders are currently sitting in the No. 7 spot in the 2025 NFL Draft order, per Tankathon, so they're in striking distance for a top-five pick that would enable them to come away with one of the top quarterbacks next April.

But Sporting News' Vinnie Iyer believes the Raiders should do something to address the position this year. He predicts the Raiders will trade for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields.

"The Raiders have their eyes on Shedeur Sanders and other top QB prospects in the 2025 draft, but it would make sense to take a shot on Fields to pair with his former Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy," Iyer wrote. "The Steelers may not want to break up their ideal backup/starter situation with Russell Wilson and Fields, but they could be motivated to flip the latter if they get a great offer."

Fields got a chance to start over the first six games of the 2024 season with Russell Wilson hurt and played well enough to help the Steelers to a 4-2 record. However, he simply didn't do enough in the passing game to fully unseat Wilson, who was named the starter before the season started. Wilson has been a clear upgrade for Pittsburgh's passing attack over his two starts.

There are a few problems with the Raiders acquiring Fields.

For starters, he isn't much of an upgrade over what Las Vegas has now, and even if he proves to be that, he may hurt the Raiders' chances of landing a top-five pick in next year's draft, which is crucial for the team's hopes of getting it's franchise quarterback in 2025.

Furthermore, Fields is going to be a free agent in 2025, so Las Vegas may end up giving up draft capital for a player who won't be here next year. The Raiders are not in a position to take that risk, and that's especially true when Fields isn't guaranteed to be the long-term answer Las Vegas needs, anyway.

And, it remains to be seen if the Steelers would even trade him, as they may prefer to keep Fields as a backup just in case Wilson gets hurt. If Pittsburgh trades Fields and Wilson were to get injured, the Steelers would have to turn to Kyle Allen, who is no doubt a step down from Fields, which could derail their season.

On the flip side, Fields would offer a decent bridge option in 2025 if the Raiders can re-sign him and can't land a young quarterback in the draft. He would also provide strong competition for any quarterback Las Vegas drafts.

At the end of the day, Fields would be just another dart throw by the Raiders at the quarterback position, and we've been down that road before. Las Vegas needs to just ride it out with what it has now, land a high draft pick, and use that to find someone who can lead this franchise into the future.