The Las Vegas Raiders have been rumored as a team that could potentially be interested in selecting a quarterback in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft. However, they opted to bring in a veteran quarterback on Monday, which may put those rumors into question.
Journeyman quarterback Gardner Minshew II came into this past season with pretty low expectations, signing a one-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts to be the No. 2 quarterback behind Anthony Richardson.
Things went far differently than expected for Minshew though, as he would go on to start 13 games following Richardson’s season-ending injury to his throwing shoulder.
In those games, the Colts went 7-6 and nearly found themselves sneaking into the postseason, narrowly losing to the Houston Texans in a Week 18 win-and-in scenario.
This impressive year found Minshew in a position to get paid quite handsomely this offseason. And the Raiders did just that, agreeing to a two-year $25 million deal with Minshew on Monday.
Compensation update: The #Raiders are signing QB Gardner Minshew to a two-year, $25 million deal that includes $15M fully guaranteed, per sources.
Strong money for their potential 2024 starting QB. pic.twitter.com/Jsl9ycNCK4
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 11, 2024
Minshew has largely been thought of as a great backup quarterback option, potentially the best backup quarterback in all of football.
But after his solid year in Indianapolis, fans are seemingly intrigued about him potentially getting another starting chance in Las Vegas.
#Raiders are paying Gardner Minshew $70 million less to play for them than the #Broncos are paying Russell Wilson to play for the #Steelers.
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) March 11, 2024
Gardner Minshew is one of those guys who may not be the most talented but when they play they go BALLS TO THE WALL. That’s a real Raider.
— Raider Nation G (@RaiderNationG12) March 11, 2024
You know who won the Oakland finale?
Gardner Minshew…
And he outperformed Derek Carr:
Our true football Jesus is here! #RaiderNation
— CJ (@CJE_NFL) March 11, 2024
I don’t get the freak out over Gardner Minshew’s contract.
It’s high-level backup/low-level starter/ bridge-gap QB money, which is exactly what Gardner Minshew has been up to this point in his career, and what he will be with the #Raiders.
LOL 🤷🏾♂️
— Moe Moton (@MoeMoton) March 11, 2024
A genuine thank you to Gardner Minshew for making last year entertaining when almost all else went wrong. Oh and for the BFF content between him and AR 🥲 https://t.co/bCuWPSylNB pic.twitter.com/fbogWHrEmC
— ColtsFanCole (@ColtsFanCole) March 11, 2024
It’s certainly an intriguing move for the Raiders at the very least, particularly because it actually creates more questions than answers around their quarterback situation.
Minshew will join Aiden O’Connell and Jimmy Garoppolo in the team’s quarterback room. Garoppolo is expected to be released, so it is probably safe to remove him from the picture in Las Vegas.
Are the Raiders content with just Minshew and O’Connell competing for the starting quarterback job? That seems unlikely, but it is at least a possibility.
Neither quarterback has proven all that much in terms of building a consistent winner in the league. So it also seems extremely possible that the team could still look into selecting a quarterback early in the 2024 NFL Draft.
If that ends up being the case, it could be a three-way quarterback battle throughout the offseason, which would be fascinating to see.
Regardless, Minshew is now a Raider, and it sure seems like he will at least have a chance to battle for a starting job next year.
