Among the five teams that should monitor Dak Prescott's situation, the Las Vegas Raiders are the only squad that will have a true quarterback competition at training camp, which underscores why they need to approach the 2025 quarterback market with urgency.
This offseason, the Raiders signed journeyman signal-caller Gardner Minshew to compete against second-year pro Aidan O'Connell for the starting job.
In five seasons, Minshew has performed well as a starter in stretches, but with the Indianapolis Colts last year, he lost a quarterback battle to then-rookie Anthony Richardson. Thus far, Minshew "is still getting his feet wet with his new team," per The Athletic's Vic Tafur.
In all likelihood, the Raiders' answer at quarterback isn't on the roster right now.
Minshew has bounced around the league over the previous few years. O'Connell has below-average athleticism at a time when quarterbacks have to be more mobile to evade bigger, stronger and faster defenders in the pocket.
Because of their defense, which ranked ninth in scoring last year and now features newcomer Christian Wilkins, the Raiders may not be bad enough to bottom out and get a top-10 draft pick in 2025.
Therefore, general manager Tom Telesco may have to spend heavily on a veteran quarterback to improve the offense's outlook.
The Raiders have a projected $24.2 million in cap space next offseason, per Over the Cap. They could restructure Wilkins' and Davante Adams' contracts to save an additional $37.8 million in cap space.
