Raiders rumors: Las Vegas more likely to sign Mariota than Brady in free agency

With all the talk surrounding Tom Brady to the Raiders, it may be another veteran quarterback heading to Las Vegas.

For all the talk about Tom Brady being on the Raiders radar should he hit free agency, those talks seem to be cooling this week and another veteran quarterback, Marcus Mariota is now emerging as a possible option.

According to Mike Garafolo of the NFL network, it’s very likely the Raiders will add a veteran quarterback, but is that quarterback Tom Brady?

“I cannot drive a wooden stake through that story to kill it,” said Garafolo.  “I would say it’s unlikely based on the conversations I’ve had.  So I would say if there’s no Tom Brady then I would say it’s some other veteran quarterback that’s out there.  And I’ll actually give you a name here that I think you should watch based on what someone told me, that’s Marcus Mariota.”

If you have followed the career of Mike Mayock then this news should come as no surprise to you.  Mariota was Mayock’s number one ranked QB in the 2015 draft class.

Mariota lost his starting job in Tennessee this past season when the team got off to a 2-4 start and Ryan Tannehill replaced him and led the team to an appearance in the AFC title game.

As a former number two overall selection in the draft, Mariota hasn’t exactly lived up to the hype.  He has a career record of 29-32, has completed 63 percent of his passes with 76 touchdown passes to 44 interceptions.  Perhaps a change in scenery is what Mariota needs.

“It would be an interesting situation if he did wind up with the Raiders,” Garafolo continued.  “Because are the Raiders married to Derek Carr? Are they moving away from Derek Carr? I think it’s probably somewhere in between there.  And it would be interesting to see if they do add a veteran, what would the dynamic be like?”

Garafolo brings up an interesting point here.  Would Derek Carr be ok with a situation like this or would it cause angst within the locker room?

They say competition brings out the best in everyone.  Carr has never had a back up that he has had to worry about taking his job so it would certainly be something new for Carr.

Expect the rumors to continue to fly as we get closer to the start of free agency on March 18th, but it does sound as if the Raiders are planning to shake things up at quarterback.