Raiders Urged to Cut QB Before Start of Season

Getty Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce.

The Las Vegas Raiders have their starting quarterback in Gardner Minshew and his backup will be Aidan O’Connell. However, there could still be a bit of a battle for the No. 3 quarterback position.

Right now, Nathan Peterman and Carter Bradley are the other quarterbacks on the roster. Bradley is an undrafted rookie signing while Peterman is a veteran who spent the last two years in offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s offense.

That said, the Raiders may not even keep three quarterbacks on the active roster. David Kenyon of Bleacher Report believes the team should cut Peterman before the season and stash him on the practice squad.

“Considering the Raiders have few notable cut candidates, let’s talk Nathan Peterman. Las Vegas should release him as a procedural move to open a roster spot in case an intriguing waiver possibility pops up,” Kenyon wrote in an August 23 column. “Peterman can be stashed on the practice squad, not an active roster.”

If Peterman were cut, there’s not a big market for him so he should be available for the practice squad. The third-string quarterback never plays in an ideal season but keeping Peterman around for a while makes sense considering his knowledge of the offensive system.

Antonio Pierce Talks Carter Bradley

Bradley isn’t a name who has been talked about much this offseason. He’s the son of former Raiders defensive coordinator Gus Bradley but wasn’t overly productive in college. In six years split between Toledo and South Alabama, Bradley threw 61 touchdowns to 27 interceptions.

According to head coach Antonio Pierce, Bradley is going to be the starting quarterback in the Raiders’ third preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers.

“In his first game, all [Bradley] did was hand the ball off nine times and then, we let him sling it last week,” Pierce said during his August 21 press conference. “And he did a good job again last night. So, it will be good to see him in this first half sling it and see what he does in the third quarter as well. But I think he’s done a good job of growing. Like all rookies, you have your ups and downs, and I think, when you have a quarterback battle, there’s not a lot of reps there. So, there wasn’t a lot of opportunities for him, but he’ll have a good chance to show off [Friday].”

Peterman is a known commodity having been in the NFL since 2017 so it makes sense for the Raiders to take a closer look at Bradley. This could actually be the most important game of his football life so far.

Can Carter Bradley Beat out Nathan Peterman?

Peterman only recently joined the team and while he has a relationship with Getsy, Pierce has no reason to be loyal to him. There’s still a chance that Bradley can beat him out for the third quarterback spot.

He just needs to have an impressive showing against the 49ers in the preseason. If he can show accruacy and poise, the Raiders may be more keen to keep him around and see what he can do. That said, it’s still possible that both of them are competing for a practice squad spot but cosnidering he’s an undrafted rookie, Bradley would likely be happy just to make the team in any capacity.