With the Las Vegas Raiders struggling to find their footing, should they pursue Mac Jones in a trade looking toward the future?
It hasn’t been a great start to the season for the Raiders. Through five weeks, the Raiders currently have a 2-3 record and some of the losses have left many scratching their heads.
After a Week 1 win against what we now know to be a very bad Denver Broncos team, the Raiders suffered a blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills. The game against the Bills pretty much showed that the Raiders aren’t going to be able to compete in the AFC this season.
In the following two weeks, the Raiders then suffered losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Chargers. However, they were able to finally get back in the win column against the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football.
The Raiders certainly feel like a franchise in an interesting spot. When they signed Jimmy Garappolo from the San Francisco 49ers, they likely felt like he was going to help lead them back into the playoffs. The franchise made the bold decision to move on from Derek Carr last season. Carr was mainly let go because the team struggled in big spots and as the quarterback he took a lot of that blame.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, the Garoppolo signing hasn’t been a good one so far. In four games this season, Garoppolo has totaled 917 passing yards, six touchdown passes, and seven interceptions.
After handing Garoppolo a big contract this offseason, it’s hard to imagine that they would move on from him, but crazier things have happened in the NFL.
With the struggles of the New England Patriots on the other coast, it’s likely that Mac Jones will not be the quarterback their next season. While the offseason could certainly change who the coach is for the Raiders if their struggles continue, Josh McDaniels was the offensive coordinator for Mac Jones in his rookie season.
As a rookie, Mac Jones looked the best he has in the league, as a lot of questions about his struggles have to be attributed to who has been his offensive coordinator since and the talent around him. In Las Vegas, it would be hard to imagine Jones not playing better with a wide receiver like Davante Adams and a running back like Josh Jacobs.
If the Raiders and Patriots both continue their struggles, one would have to think that McDaniels and Bill Belichick would both be coaching elsewhere next season, which could impact the Raiders’ potential interest in Jones.
However, with McDaniels’ success with Jones in his rookie season, it would be interesting to see them paired up again to see if it was other factors attributing to the struggles of Jones. If the price is right and the Patriots are ready to move on from Jones this season, he could actually be an upgrade at the position with how poorly Garoppolo has been playing.
Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.
