Gardner Minshew is among ESPN's biggest winners after NFL Draft

Gardner Minshew's career is pretty great. He's sort of become this generation's Nick Foles – he has never started a full season, isn't particularly "good" and yet still gets thrown huge contracts by multiple teams. The only thing separating them is Foles' Super Bowl ring, which Minshew will surely win in Las Vegas.

The latest accolade of Minshew's career might be his best yet: a nice compliment from ESPN. The Raiders have been one of the busiest teams in free agency this season, and signing Minshew to a two-year deal technically worth over $20 million was one of their ... most notable? ... signings. But all negative opinions don't matter anymore, because ESPN loves it. For Minshew at least.

Gardner Minshew is among ESPN's biggest winners after NFL Draft

This all stems from their latest big draft piece, titled, "2024 NFL draft winners, losers: Players impacted by rookie picks." The premise is exactly what it sounds like – ESPN goes team-by-team and points out winners, losers, and players impacted by rookie picks. The SEO is probably off the charts.

In it, they pick Minshew as a winner, because it's hard to say otherwise when an NFL team gives you the starting job and $20 million for ... reasons. Here's what they said:

"When the carousel of teams interested in quarterbacks in the draft came to a halt, perhaps the only team reportedly interested in landing a signal-caller that didn't actually land one was the Raiders. They weren't able to trade up from No. 13 overall for Michael Penix Jr. or J.J. McCarthy, and when the Broncos drafted Bo Nix just ahead of them, they were taken off the quarterback board ... "

"... All of this benefits Minshew, who is likely to win a competition with Aidan O'Connell for the starting job. Minshew would have been cast in the bridge quarterback role if the Raiders had selected a quarterback in the first round, but their failure to land a passer of the future and the depth added up front should be a boon to his chances of playing -- and playing well -- in 2024."

Frankly, Minshew should write a big ol' check to the Atlanta Falcons, thanking them for their service. They guaranteed Minshew at least a few more game checks than he probably would have seen otherwise, which is certainly not nothing to a journeyman quarterback who's on his fourth team in six seasons. But he is a winner, there's no denying that. And the only thing better than winning on the field is winning at the bank.