The tandem of Pete Carroll and John Spytek are looking for a veteran quarterback to lead the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025–a notion The Raider Ramble has been following up on for weeks now. That hasn’t changed since, as Sin City continues to explore both the trade and free agent markets for their veteran under center.
Matthew Stafford is the player who the Silver and Black swung big at, proving Carroll and Spytek were indeed doing everything in their power to create a football team ready to compete immediately. But it wasn’t a Stafford or nothing situation; the two have had their eyes set on getting Las Vegas a proven signal caller at the NFL-level since their first day in town.
The question now on Raider Nation’s mind: What options are left for the Raiders?
Currently, the four names with the most traction via fans are Geno Smith, Derek Carr, Sam Darnold, and Russell Wilson. Each of the four names comes with a mixed bag of fans, too. While some of Raider Nation favors Smith, for example, to be the team’s next starting quarterback, others want nothing to do with it. That same sentiment applies to each of the other three names as well.
While those four seem to be the quarterbacks that Raider Nation believes make the most sense, that isn’t exactly the case. Three of the four may be completely out of the question, in fact.
QB updates: Pete Carroll, John Spytek continue trying to find Las Vegas Raiders a veteran
Of all the names floating around out, Geno Smith is the one that truly does make too much sense to ignore. Back in February, I wrote about the connection between Smith and Pete Carroll, noting how highly the two think of each other.
In the words of Carroll himself, Geno Smith is one of his “All-time favorite guys.” For a 73-year-old coach who’s won at both the college and NFL levels, that is quite the sentiment.
As for Smith, the 34-year-old credits Carroll for his return back under center in the National Football League. “One of the best motivators I’ve ever been around,” the former second-round pick said of his now-former head coach.
And yet, as great as that all is, and as much sense as that pairing genuinely does make, none of it matters if the Seattle Seahawks are unwilling to move Smith. He is their starting quarterback, after all.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be in the realm of reality at the moment.
Shortly after piecing together the reunion of Smith and Carroll, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald held an interview with Fox 13’s Aaron Levine. Macdonald let it be known exactly how he feels about his team’s signal caller.
“Do you expect [Smith] to be your quarterback next year?,” Levine asked.
“Yeah, heck yeah, man,” Macdonald wasted no time responding. “Geno’s our quarterback. I don’t understand the conversation. It’s pretty obvious this guy’s a heck of a quarterback. He’s our quarterback. We love him. Can’t wait to go to work with him.”
That doesn’t mean the chances of a trade happening are 0%, but needless to say, the Seahawks are not actively looking to move on from their QB1. Seattle holds all the power in this situation; if they wish to keep Smith around, that’s that.
A Derek Carr update
The case with Derek Carr is similar to the one with Geno Smith. Just as the Seattle Seahawks plan to continue forward with Smith as their starting quarterback, the New Orleans Saints are content with doing the same under Carr.
There is a difference that you might’ve caught, however. While Mike Macdonald emphatically declared Geno Smith is his quarterback, Saints head coach Kellen Moore didn’t quite do the same with Carr, although he did confirm his belief in the Fresno State alum.
“Derek’s a tremendous quarterback in this league. I’ve had so much respect for him, the journey that he’s been on. He’s a starter in this league. He’s a premier player in this league. Really excited to team up with him and go through this process,” Moore said of his quarterback.
High praise, but no outright commitment.
To stay level-headed, the most-likely reason for Moore’s lack of commitment to Carr is his unfamiliarity with him. Macdonald is so confident in Geno Smith largely because he was able to coach him and see his abilities first-hand for one year. Moore, on the other hand, has not been able to do that for any amount of time with Carr.
That in mind, it’s more than understandable that Moore didn’t feel comfortable downright guaranteeing Carr will be the team’s quarterback in 2025 as he hasn’t spent so much as one day working with him thus far.
Still, based on Moore’s comments, it’s likely Carr will remain in New Orleans for at least this upcoming season. That’s a sentiment The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt agrees with–it makes the most sense, all things considered.
The news with Sam Darnold
The situation with Darnold remains the same as it’s always been: Pete Carroll and John Spytek have a legitimate interest, but so do the Vikings. And Minnesota holds many of the cards here.
For fans, it’s hard to understand why the Vikings would be so hellbent on keeping Darnold around with first-round pick J.J. McCarthy coming back from an injury. But it’s really quite simple.
Needless to say, when it comes to rookies, there are no guarantees. No guarantees their game from college will translate to the NFL, no guarantees the player will continue progressing, and overall, no guarantees the process as a whole will go as envisioned. You draft a rookie quarterback and you dream that player is able to lead your club to a record close to 14-3.
In the meanwhile, Sam Darnold actually did lead his team to a 14-3 record. There’s no hypotheticals here. What Sam Darnold was in 2024, both in terms of his film and the success it led to, is what you dream your rookie quarterback can come close to achieving. So why would you move on from the player who proved, for a fact, he can do that for a player you only hope, with no backing proof whatsoever, can achieve anything close to that same level of success?
The NFL remains fluid at all times. Sure, there was once a time not too long ago where J.J. McCarthy was the indefinite future for Minnesota. Now, after a surreal ’24 campaign from Darnold, that future is not so definite. And if Darnold stays with the Vikings and posts another season like the one he just had, there’s no way around Darnold then becoming the future.
In the meantime, the Raiders will continue competing with Minnesota, and others, for Darnold.
A fallback plan for Pete Carroll, John Spytek and the Las Vegas Raiders
Despite the talk that’s been centered around Russell Wilson and the Raiders for a month, it was never Plan-A. Not for Las Vegas, and not for Wilson, either.
Pete Carroll isn’t interested in recreating his old Super Bowl winning Seattle Seahawks team in Sin City. That’s exactly why he elected to pass on Darrell Bevell as his offensive coordinator, who served as Seattle’s offensive coordinator during their Super Bowl victory.
If Wilson was Plan-A, Bevell would be manning the offensive play-caller duties in Las Vegas as I write this. That’s not the case, however.
For the soon-to-be free agent quarterback, his Plan-A was to remain with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That still might happen, but there’s a real chance Pittsburgh decides to move forward with Justin Fields, or alternatively, neither, in search of a new signal caller altogether.
But make no mistake–none of this means there’s no interest on either side.
Although Wilson isn’t and was never Carroll’s Plan-A, don’t be surprised if he is Plan-E, Plan-D, or even Plan-C. Las Vegas already missed out on Matthew Stafford, and seem to be out of luck with Geno Smith. If the team is unable to land Darnold this offseason, Wilson may then rise to the next-best option.
Don’t think Wilson has zero interest in playing for the head coach who he won a Super Bowl with, either. Russ made it known him and Carroll stay in contact on a regular basis, and beyond that, the 36-year-old had hoped to join Las Vegas’ football team this past offseason.
Aaron Rodgers stands as another veteran option who can step in immediately. Rodgers almost landed in Sin City two offseasons ago, but the then-Raiders regime concluded Green Bay wanted more for the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback than they were willing to give.
*Top Photo: Getty Images