The Las Vegas Raiders will need wholesale changes once again after the 2025 NFL season. Patience is a virtue, but owner Mark Davis needs to recognize that he is dealing with a 74-year-old retread head coach and a 35-year-old quarterback who has been a starter as often as a backup in his career.
With young players and coaches, an owner needs to give them time to grow and develop. But that is not the situation in Las Vegas. These two were brought in, essentially as a package deal, to turn things around immediately for the Raiders. They at least needed to take a step in the right direction.
But that hasn't been the case at all, and the Silver and Black should be diving headfirst back into the quarterback and head coach wilderness this offseason. Fortunately, a dream coaching candidate is now one step closer to Las Vegas thanks to a bombshell quarterback benching.
Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa benching means Mike McDaniel is one step closer to Las Vegas
On Wednesday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Miami Dolphins were benching quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Rookie seventh-rounder Quinn Ewers will now start the remainder of the season with the Dolphins out of playoff contention.
A handful of Raiders fans are probably thinking that the team should follow Miami's blueprint and bench their veteran quarterback for the campaign's remaining contests to take a look at their younger signal-callers. And that is a completely valid way to look at this situation.
More importantly, however, this opens up an avenue for Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel to come to Las Vegas. Whether he immediately hops on as a head coach, which is unlikely, or serves as an offensive coordinator, this innovative young mind needs to come and transform the Raiders' offense.
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Earlier in the year, Miami fired its longtime general manager, Chris Grier. The ownership said that they wouldn't make a decision on McDaniel's future until after the season, and that is finally near. Grier was first made the scapegoat. Now it's Tagovailoa. McDaniel is out of places to point the finger.
If McDaniel does get ousted from his position with the Dolphins, it wouldn't be for his lack of talent. Despite being attached at the hip with Tagovailoa, McDaniel had Miami humming for some years there before his quarterback imploded.
Obviously, McDaniel would be coveted if he were to lose his job in Miami. He also has coaching connections all across the league, so he'd likely be able to jump on a number of staffs without having to impress someone new in an interview, like the Raiders' brass.
But Mark Davis has proven that he'll pony up for a good play-caller, and if Las Vegas is in a position to draft a young quarterback, that could be a nice selling point for McDaniel. Granted, it's hard to have success with the Raiders. However, if McDaniel could do it, he'd recoup so much value as a coach.