The NFL offseason is about to pick up in a major way with the NFL Scouting Combine about to kick off. TheLas Vegas Raiders are going to be a team to watch closely in the coming months.
They’ve been linked to quarterbacks and will certainly be watching the top prospects at the Combine.
The one quarterback the team has been most linked to is Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. No prospects is a guarantee but Sanders is such a big name that he’d immediately become one of the faces of the Raiders.
However, the team might need to trade up if they want him. If that happens, Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report believes it could be one of the defining moves of the 2025 NFL offseason.
“The Raiders have also been linked to Shedeur Sanders,” Gagnon wrote in a Feb. 14 column. “They’ve been desperate for a franchise quarterback for the last few years, and they could trade up for one of the draft’s top two QB prospects, as they hold the No. 6 pick as well as an extra third-rounder.
“Could this be the year they take a quarterback in Round 1 for the first time since JaMarcus Russell in 2007? … What better place for that bet to come from than Vegas? And because the Raiders have some talent already in the trenches as well as more than $95 million in projected cap space, they have the ability to support their shiny new quarterback from the get go.”
Will Raiders Need to Trade up for Sanders?
If the Raiders truly believe that Sanders could be their franchise quarterback, they may trade up to ensure that they get him. That said, the cost to move up is always a lot even with them holding the No. 6 pick.
Also, the Raiders may not even need to move up to get him. Many mock drafts have Sanders slipping to Las Vegas at No. 6. NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah had that exact thing happen in his most recent mock draft.
“I wouldn’t be shocked if the Raiders decided to wait until Day 2 of the draft to address the QB position, but I do see Sanders as a good fit in Chip Kelly’s offense,” Jeremiah wrote.
Being able to land Sanders without having to trade up would be huge for a Raiders team that needs as many picks as possible to fill key needs.
Raiders Will Almost Certainly Draft QB at Some Point
Even if the Raiders sign a quarterback in free agency, it’s hard to imagine they skip on the position entirely in the draft. New head coach Pete Carroll landed a 10-time Pro Bowler when he took Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 draft.
He knows that there can be value found at the position later in the draft. Ohio State’s Will Howard makes a lot of sense. He should fall to Day 2 or Day 3 and he just spent a year with new Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. He’d be a logical fit.
The team could also go with a player with more athletic upside like Alabama’s Jalen Milroe. Regardless, the Raiders need a young quarterback with some upside on their roster.
