Particularly not with the Raiders inserting Minshew, the quintessential “Band-Aid,” into the QB room alongside Pierce’s self-described “BFF,” Aidan O’Connell.
Because Las Vegas is sure to add another signal-caller, or two, before the start of OTAs in May, and the Raiders only have two quarterbacks on the roster after cutting Jimmy Garoppolo, who found a home with the Los Angeles Rams, and Brian Hoyer.
Will it be another vet that serves as a stopgap, or, as Pierce has hinted at more than once, a highly sought-after draft pick? In the latter case, the Raiders would almost certainly need to pay a high price to move up from No. 13 into the top 2 or 3.
With reference to the Raiders’ nine-year starter from 2014 to 22, “I know we had Derek Carr for a bunch of years,” Pierce remarked. “But before him and after him, it’s been a bunch of one-stop guys.”
Think about this: the Raiders started 14 different quarterbacks throughout the ten-year period between Rich Gannon’s final game in 2004 and Carr’s draft selection in 2014 — Kerry Collins, Marques Tuiasosopo, Andrew Walter, Aaron Brooks, Josh McCown, Daunte Culpepper, JaMarcus Russell, Jason Campbell, Bruce Gradkowski,
Carr left the team with two weeks remaining in the 2022 season after being benched; since then, Las Vegas’ starting quarterbacks have included Jarrett Stidham, Garoppolo, Hoyer, and O’Connell.
“And I don’t think any organization wants that,” Pierce went on. “You want the face of your franchise to be the quarterback, to be that guy you can count on for the next few years.”