The Las Vegas Raiders have added competition at the all-important quarterback position. According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, the Raiders have signed veteran signal caller Gardner Minshew.
The deal comes in at $25 million over two years with $15 million in total guarantees.
This is not necessarily starter-caliber quarterback money. In reality, Minshew will be competing with Aidan O’Connell to be QB1 in Sin City.
A fourth-round pick out of Purdue last year, O’Connell took over for Jimmy Garoppolo as the Raiders’ starting quarterback once Antonio Pierce replaced the fired Josh McDaniels. He proceeded to lead the Raiders to a 5-5 record in 10 starts, throwing 12 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions.
Pierce had noted earlier in the offseason that the Raiders were looking to add competition at quarterback. They did just that by signing the underrated Minshew.
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Impact of Las Vegas Raiders signing Gardner Minshew
A sixth-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Washington State back in 2019, Minshew has been a stopgap starter in his career.
He started a total of 20 games in two seasons with the Jaguars before being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. The 27-year-old signal caller threw 37 touchdowns compared to 11 interceptions in Duval. He was hurried out of town after Jacksonville selected Trevor Lawrence with the first pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
This past season saw Minshew start 13 games for the injured Anthony Richardson with the Indianapolis Colts. He led the team to a 7-6 record while throwing 15 touchdowns compared to nine interceptions.
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Unfortunately, Minshew also boasted the fourth-highest turnover-worthy plays among quarterbacks behind only Desmond Ridder, Josh Dobbs and Sam Howell last season.
- Gardner Minshew career stats: 62.6% completion, 9,937 yards, 59 TD, 24 INT
This move seems to indicate that Vegas is not going to look quarterback with its first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The team has been linked to trade-up scenarios leading up to the annual event. We can pretty much throw that out the window now.