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Things were looking good for the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday after Aaron Rodgers decided to stay put with the Green Bay Packers. The Denver Broncos were long rumored to be targeting him in a trade, which wouldn’t have been good for the silver and black. Well, something even worse may have happened.
Instead of the 38-year-old Rodgers joining the AFC West, the 33-year-old Russell Wilson has been traded to the Broncos.
Though Rodgers is a back-to-back MVP, this might be an even better move for Denver. Wilson is younger and comes with far less drama. The Raiders can’t be happy with this news. Derek Carr is a very good quarterback – arguably top-10 in the NFL. However, he’s not on the level of Wilson, Patrick Mahomes or Justin Herbert. He’s without question the fourth-best quarterback in the AFC West. Obviously, Carr is still good enough to beat the other three quarterbacks but things are just going to get harder. New head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler better have some tricks up their sleeves or things could get ugly in the AFC West for the Raiders.
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Maxx Crosby & More React to News
Carr will be at the center of much of the talk about the Wilson trade but it’s the Raiders defense that has to worry. They already had to play two great quarterbacks twice a year in Herbert and Mahomes. Adding Wilson to the mix only makes things harder. Defensive end Maxx Crosby is coming off a breakthrough year and he reacted to the news using a GIF of him holding back a smile. It appears he’s excited about the challenge of sharing a division with three superstar quarterbacks.
Cornerback Trayvon Mullen will have his hands full in the secondary. Similar to Crosby he’s using the news as motivation.
Offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor won’t be too affected by the news but he made reference to how stacked the AFC West is going to be.
Running back Josh Jacobs has similar feelings about Wilson joining the division.
Are the Raiders Doomed?
It’s easy for Raiders fans to panic right now but not all hope is lost. It’s important to remember that Las Vegas was one of only two teams in the AFC West to make the playoffs last season. Chargers head coach Brandon Staley is still an unknown and so is new Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett. The Raiders also have a new coaching staff so it remains to be seen how good they will be.
Carr isn’t as good as the other three AFC West quarterbacks but he’s good enough to keep the team competitive. There’s still a lot of offseason left. If the Raiders sign some playmakers and nail the draft, they have just as strong a chance as any team to win the AFC West. Before Raiders fans panic, let’s see how the offseason plays out.
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