Tom Brady could also be a Michigan man however he apparently likes these with USC ties, too.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday that he expects the Raiders — for whom Brady is a minority proprietor — to make a play for Sam Darnold to be their beginning quarterback in free company.
Buying Darnold would give the Raiders a pair of Trojans main the group because the 27-year-old quarterback performed for USC earlier than being drafted third general by the Jets in 2018, whereas new head coach Pete Carroll was on the helm for this system from 2001 to 2009.
“I think the Raiders are going to make a play for Sam Darnold,” Schefter mentioned on the “Pat McAfee Show.” “I think Sam Darnold is a candidate to be the Raiders’ quarterback. We’ll see whether Minnesota lets him go or not, but let’s see if that works out with Sam Darnold winding up in Vegas.”
The Raiders try to re-shape their franchise with Brady’s enter and their greatest space of want is on the sport’s most essential place.
The Aidan O’Connell-Gardner Minshew pairing didn’t work final season, and it is going to be laborious to compete in a division with Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Bo Nix and not using a strong possibility beneath middle.
The Raiders personal the No. 6 decide within the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft in April, however the high two choices in Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders could also be passed by then, and this 12 months’s quarterback class is taken into account underwhelming.
That might go away Brady and proprietor Mark Davis on the lookout for free brokers, and Darnold, ought to he turn out to be a free agent, would be the better of a bunch that will even embrace Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
Darnold revitalized his profession by throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns whereas main the Vikings to a 14-3 file, trying nothing — for a lot of the season, at the least — just like the Jets model who noticed ghosts.
The large query, although, is whether or not the Vikings let him hit free company.
Minnesota can use the franchise tag, transition tag or signal Darnold to an extension, however they believed they drafted their franchise quarterback final 12 months after they chosen J.J. McCarthy.
Having an inexpensive, good quarterback is often a bonus beneath the NFL’s wage cap.
The Vikings thus have a tricky name concerning whether or not they can simply transfer on from a quarterback who led them to a 14-3 file, though his flameouts in Week 18 and the wild-card spherical might make that simpler.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell indicated that Minnesota is conscious Darnold could also be one and executed, though he would welcome him again with open arms.
“I believe Sam has kind of played himself into being probably the marquee free-agent quarterback available,” O’Connell instructed CBS final week. “I do believe that his teammates and coaches and our front office and myself, we would love to have Sam back in Minnesota. But at the same time, we do feel very confident in J.J. McCarthy. He’s healthy. We drafted him 10th overall for a reason.”
