The failures of the Josh McDaniels era with the Las Vegas Raiders have been well-documented. General manager Dave Ziegler struggled with roster construction as well, but McDaniels failed to keep the team together and completely botched the big decision at quarterback.
Now, the franchise has had underwhelming play under center for the past two seasons. They had five below-average signal-callers start during that stretch, which included Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer, Aidan O'Connell, Gardner Minshew and Desmond Ridder.
O'Connell is the only player to make a start in both seasons, as he leads the team with 17 starts over that span. While he remains on the roster heading into 2025, the new brass of John Spytek and Pete Carroll identified him as an issue during the offseason and made a move to upgrade the position.
Raiders QB Aidan O'Connell could be targeted by the Patriots to reunite with Josh McDaniels
The fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft was expected to serve as the backup quarterback this year behind Geno Smith; however, he has struggled mightily during the preseason. Some even think he could lose his No. 2 spot on the depth chart to rookie sixth-rounder Cam Miller.
Last week, the Boston Globe's Ben Volin suggested that the Patriots could make a move to reunite O'Connell with McDaniels in New England. McDaniels is now the Patriots' offensive coordinator, and they could certainly use a better backup.
"Patriots new No. 2 quarterback Josh Dobbs had a rough preseason opener and threw two pick-6s on the first day of joint practices with the Vikings, leading Mike Vrabel to say, 'Josh just has to be more consistent,'" Volin wrote. "Considering Dobbs doesn’t have any prior experience with Josh McDaniels, and his 2025 salary is $1.7 million, I don’t know if he’s a lock yet as the Patriots’ backup. One name to watch is Aidan O’Connell, who appears to be losing out on the Raiders’ backup job to rookie sixth-round pick Cam Miller. O’Connell was drafted by McDaniels in 2023 and has a veteran minimum $2.175 million on his contract over the next two years, with no guarantees."
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O'Connell has struggled in his brief career, which consists of 20 games played and 17 starts. He has thrown for 3,830 yards, 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing just 62.6% of his pass attempts, and he is 7-10 as a starter.
While he has shown flashes of being a starting quarterback, his career has been defined by inconsistencies, as, at other moments, he has looked like he doesn't belong in the NFL. The third-year quarterback has also struggled in his first two preseason games in Chip Kelly's new system.
O'Connell has thrown for 343 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions while completing 62.2% of his pass attempts this preseason. He will, however, have the opportunity to turn things around in the final matchup of the preseason as the Raiders take on the Arizona Cardinals.
If he is unable to show improvement, Las Vegas could be motivated to ship him elsewhere. If McDaniels and the Patriots are the ones to take O'Connell off the Raiders' hands, it may finally mend the fences between the fan base and arguably its most-hated former coach.