Raiders Ready to Make a QB Splash: Team Targets $21 Million Trade That Would Shake the League
A few weeks ago, the Las Vegas Raiders were in an excellent position to land their quarterback of the future this offseason. Las Vegas held a 2-12 record, tied for the worst in the NFL. While it’s been an extremely disappointing year as a whole, it provided hope for the future.
Surprisingly, Las Vegas has now gone on a winning streak. Back-to-back victories have surely helped the morale of the team, but it does make it much harder to land one of the top quarterbacks in next year’s draft class due to how shallow the pool of talent is in this 2025 class behind Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward.
The newly found success leaves the Raiders in a predicament, as throwing away another year would take quite a toll on the fans and the core players. However, one way to land a quarterback this year could be to look at last year’s class, interestingly enough. The Minnesota Vikings took J.J. McCarthy in the first round last year, expecting him to become their quarterback of the future.
However, McCarthy suffered a preseason injury, which led to Sam Darnold stepping in during his absence this year and absolutely thriving. On top of throwing for over 4,100 yards and 35 touchdowns, both of which are career-highs for Darnold, he has also led the team to a 14-2 record.
His success has some thinking that it’s a real possibility that he returns as the starter next year, and that the Vikings should not let him go. If he does return, McCarthy could become expendable. Raiders insider Ted Nguyen wondered whether Las Vegas could become a trade partner.
“Hypothetically, would you trade the Raiders first round pick for JJ McCarthy,” asked Nguyen.
This is an interesting scenario. It could be a good move for the Raiders. McCarthy got a lot of hype before the draft this spring, for good reason. He’s a talented quarterback with a load of potential.
However, whether the Vikings would actually consider this remains up in the air. They likely feel just as positively about him as they did when they made their selection, so trading him might not be as likely as some might think.
