If you're a Raiders fan beginning to resign yourself to a season of Russell Wilson, I have good news for you: there may be another way. It probably won't happen, but there is another way.
As the new, Pete Carroll-themed Raiders start to build out their roster, you may have noticed that they're suspiciously without, you know, someone to throw the ball. That is unfortunatly a prerequisite in today's NFL (ugh, I know) which makes the Raiders' need for a quarterback all the more pressing. As it turns out, Tom Telesco's idea of giving Gardner Minshew a huge two-year contract was not actually a good one, and now Carroll's tasked with figuring out how he's going to win now without a single good QB option at his disposal.
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But Bleacher Report figured it out. In their big new listicle full of trade ideas that definitely make a ton of sense, B/R finds a QB for the Raiders – and all it takes is giving up their best pick in this year's draft! Don't let any NFL GM fool you, it really is that simple.
B/R thinks JJ McCarthy is going to be the Raiders' next franchise quarterback
2025 first-round pick (No. 6 overall) for QB J.J. McCarthy
"The Vikings have the lowest investment in this year's draft with just four total picks and two in the top 100. They could change that quickly if they were willing to trade McCarthy. The Michigan quarterback might have been the top quarterback prospect in this class, and he was only 21 when he was drafted. In this deal, the Raiders could simply use their sixth overall selection to draft a quarterback who may be better than any passer in this draft, and the Vikings get a chance to add a difference-maker to their promising roster."
I'll be honest – I wanted to hate this idea, but I can't. We obviously don't know what McCarthy will be as a pro passer, but I'm sorta into the idea of a one-for-one trade like this. Why sign a former franchise QB like Wilson when Carroll can just develop a new one in McCarthy? (Like I said, it really is that simple.) If he was serious about contending right away, avoiding the whole three-years of QB purgatory that is free agency would seem like a decent way to go about it. And if McCarthy ends up being bad, Carroll's gone in three years (along with Maxx Crosby) and we're just back here trying again in 2028! [Stares bleakly into the distance forever.]