Once the Raiders traded for Geno Smith, you sorta figured they were done with that position for the time being. It's hard to, you know, play two different QB1s at the same time, and at 34 years old, you'd imagine that he's got two or three starting-caliber seasons left in him.
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It makes for an interesting debate on when the Raiders have to start planning for the future at that position. And while it'd be a little odd to see them use an early draft pick on a developmental QB – especially in this year's class – that is, apparently, not out of the question. According to a recent league-wide roundup of remaining team questions, ESPN's Raiders reporter Ryan McFadden floats the possibility that just because they traded for Smith, doesn't mean they won't still try and go get either one of the top QBs in this year's group.
Raiders could still be in play for a QB with their early draft picks according to ESPN reporter
"Will the Raiders draft a quarterback? Even though Smith gives the Raiders a chance to win games right away, Las Vegas could take a quarterback at some point in the draft to secure its future at the position."
Hmmmmmm. "At some point in the draft" probably means "definitely not with in the first two rounds," but it is the Raiders, so you never know. In theory, it does kinda make sense: Smith's a good immediate option, but it's not like he and his 73-year old coach are going to be around Vegas for the next decade. There probably needs to be a succession plan in place, even if that plan goes beyond what Carroll envisioned for his time there. I don't see a world where Sanders is cool with sitting for half of his rookie deal (and Ward will be gone before the Raiders even have the opportunity to take him) so a Day 3-4 guy seems to be what McFadden's speculating about.
But the Raiders have a funny way of staying on-brand, and the Draft makes teams do weird things. So maybe there *is* a shockingly-large QB move on the horizon. Or maybe we'll all just have a good laugh about this when they take a safety or something.