Don’t look now, but the Dallas Cowboys narrowly edged out the Las Vegas Raiders for the worst offseason grade—it must be the slow news season. At this point, it’s an annual tradition for publications to crap on what the Silver and Black do in the offseason. The latest to follow suit? Well, that would be Sporting News.
Head coach Antonio Pierce swore that his team would not be putting a “band aid” on the quarterback position. First, they jettisoned Jimmy Garoppolo and secured Gardner Minshew II in free agency; all the while, Pierce heaped praise on Aidan O’Connell. Then, we have the draft. Despite all the hearsay and conjecture, when it was all said and done, all the top quarterback prospects came off the board. One by one, Raider Nation saw their hopes go up in smoke.
As bad as that sounds, the team still managed to have one of the most impressive draft classes in recent memory. When a game-changing talent such as Brock Bowers is there, you take him. General manager Tom Telesco, by all accounts, played it right—no reaches, just the best players available. He also hit a home run in free agency, as the Raiders finally added an interior presence to partner with Maxx Crosby—something Raider Nation had been begging for.
Apparently, the Raiders didn’t do enough…
As far as SN believes, the failure to “upgrade” the quarterback position this offseason will cripple the Raiders. It’s so bad that they’ll end up last in the AFC West. That’s quite a bold prediction.
“The Raiders splurged on Wilkins and used a luxury first-rounder on Bowers despite drafting Michael Mayer in the second round in 2024. They seemed to be too intent on reversing course from the brief Josh McDaniels era that they didn’t move on well early for Antonio Pierce.”
For their efforts, SN gave the Raiders a “C-,” which is ridiculous; the 32nd team below the Raiders (the Cowboys) received an identical grade.
The issue with all of this is that when a player such as Bowers is available, you don’t pass. The possibility of having a tight-end duo that could give the Raiders a revolutionary offense should have fans salivating. In an offense that’ll also feature Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers, the quarterback just has to get the ball in these players’ hands; they’ll do the rest.
People also need to realize (once and for all) that none of the teams picking in the top three were passing on what many view as “generational” quarterback talents. Once that became a fact, giving up valuable draft capital for the likes of J.J. McCarthy didn’t make sense. The defense will determine how far the Raiders go in Antonio Pierce’s first season as permanent head coach.
*Top Photo: Getty Images