The Las Vegas Raiders have not exactly had a smooth ride at quarterback this season. They entered the year with Jimmy Garoppolo under center, but ultimately benched him in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell.
Neither Garoppolo nor O’Connell has lit the world on fire, but Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac doesn’t envision the Raiders making any major changes at signal-caller going into 2024.
Ginnitti anticipates that Las Vegas will pay Garoppolo the $11.25 million guaranteed he is owed for next season and cut him loose in March. It will then hand the keys to O’Connell.
Garoppolo signed a three-year, $72.5 million deal with the Raiders last offseason, but the marriage did not work out like Las Vegas planned.
In six starts this year, Garoppolo threw for 1,205 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 65.5 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 78.1.
O’Connell has not looked a whole lot better, totaling 1,675 yards, eight touchdowns and seven picks while completing 61.5 percent of his throws and registering a passer rating of 78.7 through nine appearances and eight starts, but, at the very least, he is still young and has a chance to grow.
The 25-year-old created a lot of buzz in the preseason due to an impressive showing, but thus far, it has not really translated into much regular-season success.
O’Connell has shown some flashes, like in Week 15 when he went 20-for-34 with 248 yards and four touchdowns in a 63-21 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. But then, on Christmas Day, he went just 9-for-21 with 62 yards in a victory against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The problem for the Raiders is that they won’t have a good enough draft pick to take one of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft class. Of course, they can always make a trade or sign someone in free agency, but whether or not Las Vegas would explore either of those routes remains to be seen.
The Raiders are 7-8 and still have slim playoff hopes with just two games remaining. They will battle the Indianapolis Colts in a crucial matchup this Sunday. They will then conclude the regular season when they take on the Denver Broncos on Jan. 7.
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