The Jimmy Garoppolo era has not gotten off to a great start for the Las Vegas Raiders. Could that make them look to make a trade? Possibly even for New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones?
The Raiders signed Garoppolo to a three-year, $72.5 million contract back in March after cutting ties with long-time quarterback Derek Carr.
While many did not feel that Garoppolo was a true upgrade over Carr, there were also some who felt that things had gotten stale between Carr and the Raiders and that Las Vegas simply needed a change.
Well, Garoppolo has certainly not performed up to expectations, throwing an NFL-worst six interceptions over his first three games of 2023. He missed the Raiders’ Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers due to a concussion.
Could Las Vegas already be thinking about going in a different direction under center?
James Nolan of FanSided feels that an interesting target could be New England Patriots signal-caller Mac Jones.
Jones was benched in the third quarter of the Patriots’ 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys this past Sunday, prompting speculation that New England could potentially move him ahead of the Oct. 31 NFL trade deadline. The Pats fielded trade offers for Jones back in the spring, and the Raiders were a team that expressed interest.
Whether or not Las Vegas would still be intrigued by Jones is the question.
The Raiders’ previous interest in Jones came before the club took Aidan O’Connell in the fourth round of the draft. O’Connell got the start in place of Garoppolo against the Chargers, and while he was relatively unimpressive, there are some who feel he is Las Vegas’ quarterback of the future.
But let’s say the Raiders still want to explore trading for Jones.
Las Vegas could send Garoppolo and a 2024 second-round draft pick to New England. This would send Garoppolo back to his old stomping grounds, as he was Tom Brady‘s backup in Foxborough for the first three years of his career. Meanwhile, the Raiders would get out from under Garoppolo’s contract and land a young quarterback in Jones to provide some competition for O’Connell.
