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The Las Vegas Raiders players are set to have the next month as they await the end of July to start training camp. One of the biggest things to watch in the coming weeks is the health of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. He underwent foot surgery soon after the team signed him in March, per a May 25 report from Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed of The Athletic.
If Garoppolo isn’t recovering as quickly as the team hopes, they will need to evaluate their quarterback options. The team is hosting the San Francisco 49ers on August 10 and 11 for a joint training camp practice ahead of their August 13 preseason matchup in Las Vegas. The 49ers have three interesting quarterbacks on the roster in Brock Purdy, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold. Purdy is expected to be the starter going forward and isn’t going anywhere.
Lance, on the other hand, could be on the way out. NFL analyst and former scout John Middlekauff believes that the Raiders could keep a close eye on the former No. 3 overall pick and consider a trade if he looks impressive.
“Jimmy Garoppolo, they’re banking on him being healthy. He can’t even pass a physical in June for the second time in two years,” Middlekauff said on the June 16 episode of “The Colin Cowherd Podcast.” “That could be a disaster. What if [Lance] looks good against the Raiders? … You can’t just be irrelevant in Vegas, and if Jimmy is injured, they have Brian Hoyer. You wouldn’t just trade a [fourth-round pick] to see what you got?”
Sam Darnold Has Edge on Trey Lance: Insider
John Middlekauff does raise an interesting point. The Raiders are going to get a closer look at Trey Lance than any other team outside of San Francisco during training camp. If Las Vegas does see some potential, there’s always a chance to make to look a move. In the meantime, it’s looking like Lance has completely fallen out of favor with the 49ers.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes that Sam Darnold could win the backup role behind Brock Purdy. That would leave Lance on the outside looking in.
“We’ll see how Darnold and Trey Lance do in camp this summer,” Schefter said on the June 21 episode of the “Pat McAfee Show.” “My guess would be Darnold has a chance to really shine and excel, but there’s a lot of preseason football left for those two guys to distinguish himself.”
“Look, Brock Purdy is the one, if healthy,” Schefter later added. “And I think going into camp, Sam Darnold, I think, has the edge going into camp.”
No Trade Interest in Trey Lance?
If the Raiders wanted to trade for Trey Lance, they likely wouldn’t be facing much competition. According to Adam Schefter, the interest around the league in the quarterback is nonexistent.
“There really was never a lot of interest in Trey Lance,” Schefter said during the same appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show.” “… There was no trade market.”
Lance is only 23, but opinions on him appear to be low. That said, he’s still 6-foot-4 with a cannon arm. There could be some potential in there for a coach to unlock. The Raiders don’t have a high-upside quarterback on their roster so adding Lance would be an intriguing project for head coach Josh McDaniels.
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