Getty Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis.
With Aidan O’Connell having a four-touchdown performance against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15, it’s unlikely that Jimmy Garoppolo will play quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders again this season barring an injury. The team gave him a three-year, $72.75 million contract in the offseason, which is looking like one of the worst moves of the year.
Despite the fact that Garoppolo could have a $28.3 million dead cap hit if cut in 2024, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell doesn’t see a way that the Raiders don’t release him this offseason.
“O’Connell will be in Year 2 of his rookie deal,” Barnwell wrote in a December 21 column. “Barring a stunning turn of events, the Raiders will release Garoppolo, who will end up making just over $35 million for six starts in a Raiders uniform. And $11.3 million of that figure is in a guaranteed bonus that comes due next season. Vegas will have nearly $29 million in dead money for Garoppolo spread over the next two years on its cap.
Hoyer is under contract next season and his $2.2 million is fully guaranteed, which was a nice little parting gift from McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler. The Raiders may choose to just cut Hoyer and eat the money, although the 38-year-old could serve as a player-coach as the No. 3 option.”
That dead cap would be a lot for the Raiders to eat but Garoppolo didn’t look like a capable NFL quarterback when he played this season.
Will Aidan O’Connell Compete for Starting Job Next Season?
It’s been an up-and-down season for Aidan O’Connell. Prior to the Chargers game, he had four touchdowns to seven interceptions this season. The four touchdown passes against Los Angeles helped his stats but that performance needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
The Chargers have a bottom-five defense in points and yards allowed this season. The team also fired head coach Brandon Staley after the game. The Raiders play an elite Kansas City Chiefs defense in Week 16 so that will be a much stiffer test for O’Connell.
He’s shown good flashes at times this season but he’s also a couple of weeks removed from leading a scoreless effort against the Minnesota Vikings. O’Connell hasn’t shown enough yet that the Raiders should commit to him as the starting quarterback next season.
Air it out Aidan O’Connell 🏈
Antonio Pierce Talks Kansas City Chiefs Trick Plays
Upsetting the Chiefs in Week 16 would certainly help Aidan O’Connell’s chances of being the starting quarterback next season. It would also be a big help in Antonio Pierce’s case to get the full-time head coaching job.
One way to stop the Chiefs is by limiting the effectiveness of their trick plays. Pierce spoke about how the Raiders can stop them.
“These guys have a million of them,” Pierce said of the Chiefs’ trick plays during his December 20 media availability. “Every time you think you’ve seen one, you’ve seen it all, and here comes another one. They’re creative, they have fun doing it. … We saw the ‘Ring Around the Rosie’ deal they did last year. All fun and games, that’s cool.
“But at some point, the best way to stop a trick play is to do what? Hit ’em in the mouth.”