The sole road remaining to hope in Las Vegas this season travels through the possibility that the franchise trades for an upgrade at quarterback ahead of the November 5 deadline -- and a new possibility just presented itself after the Pittsburgh Steelers made an eyebrow-raising decision under center earlier this week.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported on October 15 that Pittsburgh handed over first-team practice reps to Russell Wilson , who has backed up Justin Fields for the first six games of the year due, at least in part, to a calf injury that derailed plans to make Wilson the starter in Week 1.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields.
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Wilson has been named among the most likely QB trade targets for the Raiders over the last several weeks, assuming the team is interested in upgrading at QB. Even if he was still a second-string player and potentially on the trade block, which doesn't appear to be the case any longer, Wilson heading to Las Vegas makes less sense with Adams now in New York.
Acquiring Wilson's $1.2 million salary would have been a one-season play to help put the Raiders over the top in an AFC playoff race that still feels wide open for teams currently 2-4 or better. That doesn't mean the Raiders must abandon postseason aspirations just one-third of the way through the season, but it does render one-year plays less sensical.
Fields is in the final year of his $19 million rookie contract and will become an unrestricted free agent in 2025. Considering those circumstances, one could also view the Raiders' hypothetical acquisition of Fields via a mid-season trade as a one-year move. But that isn't necessarily how the situation has to happen out.
Las Vegas is poised to select a QB in the first round of next year's draft, regardless of where they pick. However, throwing a rookie signal-caller immediately into the fire doesn't always work out, and there's nothing wrong with affording a new QB one year to learn an offense and acclimate himself to the professional game.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew.
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If the Raiders traded for Fields and he played well in his first few starts, the team could offer him a one- or two-year extension with a guaranteed pathway to starting Week 1 in 2025. That, along with drafting a quarterback in the first round next year, would provide Las Vegas with security and a reasonable plan moving forward, while also guaranteeing Fields a starting job and a couple years of quality starting-QB money.
The hypothetical represents the safe play on each side of the equation. Fields could certainly decide to ride into a weak QB free agent class next spring and see what the market bears, always with the opportunity to come back to the Raiders and sign a short-term deal if the franchise remained open to it.
Likewise, Las Vegas could roll the dice on O'Connell and Minshew for the rest of this season, then throw a rookie QB into the mix right away in 2025.
But the safer option for both sides, which involves linking up via a trade this year and extending the relationship through at least next season, will remain a possibility until the league's trade window closes on November 5.
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