Inside The Vikings

Schefter: Raiders a team to watch for Sam Darnold in free agency

The Raiders make a lot of sense as a Darnold landing spot for a variety of reasons.
Will Ragatz|
Jan 27, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll at press conference at Intermountain Health Performance Center.
Jan 27, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll at press conference at Intermountain Health Performance Center. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Will Sam Darnold wind up joining Pete Carroll and Tom Brady in Las Vegas this year? ESPN's Adam Schefter thinks it's a possibility.

"One team that I would watch with Sam Darnold moving forward would be the Las Vegas Raiders," Schefter said on ESPN's NFL Countdown on Sunday. "I think at some point in time, they're likely to have some interest in trying to bring Sam Darnold to Las Vegas. We'll see if they can make that happen."

The Raiders make quite a bit of sense as a potential Darnold landing spot for a variety of reasons. Carroll, the 73-year-old who was just hired as their new head coach, will likely want a win-now quarterback. Darnold is the top option on the free agent market, and it doesn't hurt that he played at USC, where Carroll coached back in the 2000s. Brady, who owns a limited stake in the franchise, presumably also wants to go after the best available QB this offseason.

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Las Vegas has the No. 6 pick in this year's draft, which could potentially put them out of range for top QB prospects Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders. They'll want to at least sign some kind of starting-caliber veteran option prior to the draft. Another possibility for the Raiders, which was floated by Carroll's former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, is going after Daniel Jones.

The quarterback position is the most important question facing the Raiders' new regime of Carroll and GM John Spytek. After cycling through Jimmy Garoppolo, Aidan O'Connell, Gardner Minshew, Brian Hoyer, and Desmond Ridder over the last two seasons, they need to address that area by adding at least one QB this offseason, if not multiple.

Coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Vikings, Darnold could potentially command a multi-year contract worth $35-40 million in free agency. If that's the case, a return to Minnesota seems unlikely. Other potential suitors for Darnold include (but are certainly not limited to) the Titans, Giants, Jets, and Steelers.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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