Antonio Pierce is making it clearer and clearer that he does not view Aidan O’Connell as the Las Vegas Raiders‘ quarterback moving forward.
When discussing what a franchise quarterback means to an organization, Pierce all but dismissed O’Connell without actually saying it.
“You don’t want to put a Band-Aid at that position,” Pierce said, via Vincent Bonsignore of The Las Vegas Review-Journal. “That’s old, man. I think the Raiders, we’ve seen that enough in this organization. And I know we had Derek Carr here for a bunch of years, but before him and after him, it’s been a bunch of one-stop guys.”
The Raiders began the 2023 campaign with Jimmy Garoppolo under center after signing him to a three-year, $72.5 million deal last spring, but he ended up getting benched in favor of O’Connell midway through the season. Ironically enough, Pierce began the year as Las Vegas’ linebackers coach but ultimately supplanted Josh McDaniels as the team’s head coach. Pierce also made the call on handing the starting job to O’Connell.
O’Connell threw for 2,218 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 62.1 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 83.9 in 11 appearances and 10 starts. While he was impressive over his final four outings, totaling eight touchdowns and no picks, he apparently did not do enough to win Pierce’s trust moving forward.
“You want the face of your franchise to be the quarterback,” added Pierce. “To be that guy you can count on for the next 10 years.”
Is O’Connell that guy? Doesn’t seem like it. At least not right now.
The Raiders own the 13th overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, and there have been rumors that they could try and trade up to take a signal-caller.
Las Vegas also has free agency and potential trades as avenues to explore to land its next quarterback.
Regardless, it seems clear that Antonio Pierce wants someone new under center.
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