A pillar of the Las Vegas Raiders' struggles in recent years has been a failure to find an answer at the most important position on the field. At least in the short-term, this offseason's trade for Geno Smith fixes that by providing a credible option under center.
The draft board took shape in such a way that the Raiders didn't take a quarterback until the No. 215 overall pick in the sixth round when they added Cam Miller out of North Dakota State.
Raiders' No. 2 quarterback Aidan O'Connell has been tabbed as a trade candidate this offseason as other teams searched for a viable backup. Now, however, it seems like O'Connell will be staying put as Smith's backup, fulfilling his likely NFL role as a career backup, which is not a knock on him at all.
Raiders' proposed cut candidate would leave QB room in bad situation
It's likely, though, that head coach Pete Carroll will have O'Connell and Miller take place in an open competition for being No. 2 on the Raiders' depth chart. Not only is it unlikely that a rookie from the FCS level would overtake O'Connell, but if O'Connell were to go down with an injury, the Raiders could be in the market for a veteran backup.
In the wake of the Green Bay Packers releasing cornerback Jaire Alexander on Monday, Bleacher Report's Alex Kay listed six big-name veterans who could be cut at some point later in the offseason. Somehow, O'Connell made the list.
"The acquisition of Smith could spell the end of Aidan O'Connell's up-and-down tenure in the Silver and Black," Kay wrote. "O'Connell is expendable despite showing some real potential as a rookie in 2023. ... However, it was clear the 26-year-old wasn't a long-term answer last year after he failed to beat out Gardner Minshew II for the QB1 role in training camp."
While adding Smith was certainly a bad omen for O'Connell's future with the team, he is far from expendable for Las Vegas.
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Kay seemed to ignore this fact when they went on about how much more promise Miller has as a prospect compared to O'Connell.
"While the Raiders could keep O'Connell around as a backup until his rookie deal expires after the 2026 season, Carroll might want to elevate Cam Miller—a hand-picked sixth-round rookie—to the QB2 role," Kay wrote. "Miller has far more upside at this stage of his career. ... The team would be better off getting the North Dakota State product some reps in his absence and seeing if he has potential over slogging through a lost campaign with O'Connell at the reins."
A conversation about Miller being a developmental prospect, however, is not a serious conversation for this offseason. Depending on how he progresses, the possibility he climbs the depth chart is far more a conversation for the 2026 offseason.
The idea that O'Connell is expendable in reference to Miller's latent potential is laughable. If Smith were to be injured, O'Connell and his experience is far more preferable to immediately handing the reigns over to a rookie coming from lower-level college competition.
If the Raiders were compelled to part ways with O'Connell before the season starts, they would more likely look to trade him. Ultimately, they will probably just hang onto him if they cannot find a trade partner, so the entire premise of him being cut in the coming months is crushed under the weight of common sense and logic.