Raiders’ Signs $97 Million QB Michael Penix Jr. On A Year Contract For 2024 Season…

The Las Vegas Raiders are a couple of weeks into free agency and the NFL Draft is about a month away. With just Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell in the meeting room, a lot of Raiders fans have questions about what’s going to happen at quarterback and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. came up several times this week.

So, let’s get to it and dive into this week’s mailbag.

Answer: It’s legitimate because I think the Raiders are going to have a hard time moving up in the draft to take any of the top-four quarterbacks. Penix is probably the next best option and could be available at 13 or at least wouldn’t require a big trade-up. If Las Vegas wants to be safe, striking a deal with the Jets for the 10th pick would be the route to go so that they can leapfrog the Broncos.

Ultimately, I think Penix is probably their best realistic option at this point, and he has the potential to start right away given that he’s older/more experienced as a sixth-year senior. Right now, he’s my bet to be the team’s next quarterback.

A: I kind of answered this above, I could see Penix starting Week 1. To me — and a big part of this is because of his age and experience — he falls into the high-floor, low-ceiling category. It’s hard to imagine he’ll get dramatically better than what he is or has shown given that he’s already played so much, but that also should help him make a smoother transition to the NFL than someone like say, J.J. McCarthy.

You know what you’re getting with Penix which is a big-armed quarterback who has accuracy issues, and I think he’s a better fit with Luke Getsy than O’Connell or Minshew. Getsy has a lot of deep passing concepts and likes to dial up shots down the field. The two quarterbacks currently on the roster have arm strength issues while the Washington product doesn’t.

The blindside issue can be schemed around by incorporating half-side reads to the right and by giving the tackle help in pass protection. Also, no matter what hand the quarterback is throwing with, the Raiders are going to have to address right tackle anyway or the QB will be in danger.

So, if they’re going to have to add someone to hold down the right edge regardless, might as well take the more talented player at the most important position on the field.

I honestly think they’re going to have to move up to No. 4 to get a top-four quarterback.

The Vikings equipping themselves with the 23rd pick is likely to have more capital to trade up from 11 for a quarterback. If we’re safely assuming the Bears, Commanders and Patriots take a quarterback, Minnesota is going to target that fourth or fifth spot and has more ammunition than Las Vegas.

Also, the Chargers aren’t going to help a division rival get their quarterback of the future, and the Giants, who have the sixth pick, are rumored to be in the QB market as well. So, even if the Vikings and Pats surprise people and strike a deal for No. 3, New York is still a threat at six and we can pretty much throw the idea of the Raiders trading up to five out the window.

If that happens, Tom Telesco isn’t known for trading up but Maye has drawn comparisons to Justin Herbert. So, I think it’d be reasonable for Telesco to essentially say to himself, “This is my last shot at being an NFL general manager and we need a quarterback, so I’ll make a splash and get the guy who reminds me of arguably my best pick as a GM.”

For what it’s worth, this year’s Super Bowl matchup featured two teams that had questions at offensive line with the Chiefs’ tackle situation and the 49ers’ unit outside of Trent Williams. San Francisco had a great pass rush but ended up losing to the better quarterback.

You can sit back and hope to find the next Tom Brady, Brock Purdy or mid- to late-round gem, but that’s a bigger hope and prayer than trading up.

As a side note, I always find it interesting when people only look at championships when talking about acquiring a quarterback because two guys have accounted for seven out of the last ten Super Bowl wins, Brady and Mahomes.

So, if that’s what we’re going off of, arguments could be made to trade into the top 10, hope the team gets lucky with a sixth-round pick, or sign a quarterback in free agency. That’s what the Chiefs, Patriots and Buccaneers did.