The Las Vegas Raiders have been abysmal in 2024, as the team is 4-12 and near the bottom of the AFC through 17 weeks. The Raiders have won two consecutive games after suffering a ten-game losing streak from Week 4 to Week 15, excluding their Week 10 bye. Las Vegas will finish the 2024 campaign at home versus the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
The Raiders roster is extremely lackluster, and the team has a pivotal offseason ahead. One position that desperately needs an overhaul is quarterback, as Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell have been starters at the position for most of the year and clearly aren’t the answers.
Las Vegas seemed destined to select a signal caller in the 2025 NFL Draft, but after winning the last two games, their draft position has plummeted to the No.8 overall pick heading into Week 18 after holding the No.2 pick just a few weeks ago. There are a plethora of quarterback-needy teams ahead of them in the current draft order, including the New York Giants (Pick 4) and Tennessee Titans (Pick 2).
The draft is still months away, so there is still a chance the Raiders will be in a position to select a signal caller. But CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin believes Las Vegas will go down the veteran quarterback route once again and sign Pittsburgh Steelers backup Justin Fields in 2025 free agency. Benjamin projects Fields’ contract with the Raiders will be for one year at $11 million.
“Summoned to open the Steelers’ season under center as Wilson recovered from injury, the former Chicago Bears first-rounder has been equally dynamic as erratic when asked to win through the air, though his Pittsburgh debut was more efficient,” Benjamin wrote. “He remains something of a high-upside unknown.”
If Las Vegas can’t land one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft, who many believe is Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward, signing Fields to an affordable one-year deal to serve as a bridge would be a savvy move by the team.
Fields started the first six weeks of the season for the Steelers while Russell Wilson dealt with a calf injury. The 2021 No.11 overall pick posted a 4-2 record and totaled ten touchdowns to just two turnovers. Fields showed a ton of promise and has grown as a passer, completing 65.8% of his passes during that six-game stretch to begin the year.
Selecting a quarterback would be the ideal scenario for Las Vegas, but if the team knows they will not be in a position to select a signal caller in April, signing Justin Fields in free agency in March would be a nice move.
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