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Change is rampant in Las Vegas, as the Raiders have once again undergone a regime change. New general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll will attempt to turn the storied franchise around. Under the guidance of owner Mark Davis and new minority owner Tom Brady, there will be a lot of new faces in Sin City next season. One major area left to address is quarterback. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter discussed this opening on Sunday, saying the team could target Minnesota Vikings signal caller Sam Darnold in free agency.
Some quarterback storylines: pic.twitter.com/uF7lV32MFW
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 9, 2025
‘The Vikings have said that they’d like to bring him back, but that is not going to be cheap,” reported Schefter on Sunday. “The franchise tag remains an option, and one team that I would watch with Sam Darnold moving forward would be the Las Vegas Raiders. I think at some point in time, they’re likely to have some interest in trying to bring Sam Darnold to Las Vegas. We’ll see if they can make that happen.”
Darnold in Las Vegas would certainly be interesting. The former No.3 overall pick resurrected his career in Minnesota, as head coach Kevin O’Connell helped him tremendously. Returning to the Vikings would make sense, as Darnold could continue his rise. However, there is one big question mark there: the presence of 2024 first-round pick JJ McCarthy. The former Michigan Wolverine was likely going to be the starting quarterback before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Would he be ready to take over in case Darnold leaves for Las Vegas? In this scenario, it is certainly possible.
After one season of the combo of general manager Tom Telesco and head coach Antonio Peace, Brady and Davis decided to clean house and install a new decision-making team. Spytek comes from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he was one of Bucs’ GM Jason Licht’s top lieutenants. He’s also been close to Brady for a long time, as the two were teammates at the University of Michigan during their college days. The selection of Carroll as head coach was rooted in the desire to bring in someone who can build a winning culture. That is something that Carroll has done many times before.
Signing Darnold would be a smart choice. Carroll brought in Chip Kelly from Ohio State to be his offensive coordinator, so pairing Darnold with Kelly could be a fun duo. Darnold is still young enough to be a starting quarterback in the NFL for a while, and if he’s given the right coaching in Vegas, the career revival he experienced in 2024 could certainly continue.
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