Raiders

There’s Nothing Wrong With Raiders Wanting to Upgrade QB position

It looks like Derek Carr will be the Las Vegas Raiders’ starting quarterback in 2021. Nevertheless, the news the Silver and Black could be a potential landing spot for star quarterback Russell Wilson caught everyone off guard. On the off chance he were indeed available via trade, would it be a bad thing to make an aggressive push to get him?

Wilson’s agent Mark Rodgers says the quarterback hasn’t demanded a trade, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. Moreover, he wants to play in Seattle but if a trade were considered, he would only go to the Dallas Cowboys, the New Orleans Saints, the Chicago Bears, and the Raiders. Keep in mind it’s not a fact Rusell will be available via trade. Instead, Schefter is laying out a hypothetical scenario.

A trade involving Wilson would require something close to three first-round selections. Although it may seem excessive, Top-3 quarterbacks are rarely available. Only Patrick Mahomes and possibly Aaron Rodgers are currently better than the Wisconsin standout, so whoever got him would get a top-echelon signal-caller.

Related: Raiders QB Derek Carr Gets Positive Endorsements Around The League

The Raiders’ offense would improve significantly with Russell Wilson

Derek Carr is a good quarterback. Depending on the year he can statistically fluctuate from the sixth-best to the 13th best. However, Wilson is significantly better and if the Raiders have a top 10 offense with Carr, they could have an elite unit with Wilson at the helm.

Fixing the defense should be the Raiders’ biggest priority this offseason, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t look for ways to improve on offense. You could argue Las Vegas should use the picks it would take to trade for Wilson to fix the defense. Alas, the current regime has a suspect track record drafting players in the first round and could be better off using those selections to acquire proven players.

Why not shoot for the moon?

You could also make the case the Silver and Black are over the cap. However, perennial playoff contenders like the Rams and the Saints always are always in the red but always find ways to make it work. Smart accounting by Las Vegas could help them get any player they wanted. It’s just a matter of pulling the trigger.

There’s also the Carr conundrum. Some say that there’s no reason to upgrade at quarterback. Nevertheless, contenders are always looking for an edge and ways to get better. Last offseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave Tom Brady a blockbuster deal to join them. He helped them win their second Super Bowl in Franchise history. Back in 2017, the Kansas City Chiefs aggressively pursued Patrick Mahomes in the selection meeting and they don’t have to worry about the quarterback position for the next ten years and probably more.

The point is that future favors the bold. Meanwhile, those teams that are perfectly content the way they are will perpetually sit around the 8-8 mark. There’s nothing wrong with Carr, but there’s nothing great with him either. If Watson or Wilson somehow became available, the Silver and Black should make a strong push for them.

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Top Photo: Elaine Thomson/Associated Press

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10 thoughts on “There’s Nothing Wrong With Raiders Wanting to Upgrade QB position”

  1. The problem is that Wilson is 2.5 years older, and last season was only marginally better. If the Raiders could swap QBs, but only pay a marginal price it might be reasonable. But expectations seem to be that the Raiders will give Carr plus 2 firsts and perhaps a second. That’s a huge haul for an older quarterback that’s marginally better. And Carr does seem to be getting better and more comfortable in the offense, and trended up in the second half of the season despite not having the weapons that Wilson has. Wilson started off last year red-hot, but trailed off dramatically in the second half of the season. The Seahawks have to get a lot of picks for Wilson because if they trade him they are going to eat a lot of dead cap. But the deal for the Raiders would just be too rich, and perhaps a huge mistake.

  2. CARLOS, why would you want to change the COURSE with another type of QB. There’s nothing wrong with CARR. He’s dedicated to the RAIDERS way
    JUST WIN BABY
    ARE you a CARR HATER?

  3. Any talk of upgrading qb is stupid until we have a better defense. If Nick Chubb were available, would we be talking about upgrading rb? No, we wouldn’t…

  4. WTF is wrong with people? Why trade a top 10 QB? Just fix the defense and we’ll be in the playoffs! Never happy! Always being negative! Sheesh!

  5. With all due respect fam, you must be smokin’! Until the OBVIOUS issue with this team is addressed, being the DEFENSE, it would be the same result regardless of who is QB. The game against the chargers when Mariotta came in after Carr got hurt is a perfect example. Mariotta came in and played great, but what was the end result and what was the cause? You are obviously a Carr hater who puts the blame on him for the teams woes and calling a QB that holds nearly all the franchises passing records while the best receivers he’s had were Crabtree and Cooper “generic” makes me wonder about your football intellect. He’s never had the likes of Brown/Rice or Branch/Biletnikoff to throw to, yet he has surpassed most of the records in half the time and his TD/INT ratio is about 3/1. Making just plain stupid decisions can and have set the franchise back years, decades even. Something like this would be another one of those decisions. They need to focus on getting a top tier player on defense that will transform the defense into a top 10/15 defense. If the defense was just average the Raiders would be a true super bowl contender but it is extremely piss poor and THAT is the issue, not the QB

    1. Carlos Sanchez

      With all due respect, I stop reading when you came with the weak, ‘you must be smoking’, can’t expect anyone to take you seriously with that kind of opening statement. Thanks for reading though.

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