Raiders might have missed their chance to trade Marcus Mariota

Per Ian Rapoport, several teams have shown interest in trading for Marcus Mariota, but there’s one thing in particular that slowed things down. 

While all eyes are on the Houston Texans to see if they’ll be trading Deshaun Watson this offseason, another signal-caller who has been receiving some attention as well is Las Vegas Raiders’ Marcus Mariota.

Per Ian Rapoport, multiple organizations called in to gauge Las Vegas’ interest in potentially trading the former first-round pick. However, as Rapoport notes, Mariota’s contract and the incentives he has has scared some teams off.

It may be too late for the Las Vegas Raiders to try and trade Marcus Mariota

As Rapoport notes in the video above, with his incentives, Mariota could be in line to make more than $20 million if he were to take over as a team’s starter. In Las Vegas, he’s all set to serve as Derek Carr’s backup unless an injury happens. Jon Gruden has made it quite clear this offseason he’s ready to rock with Carr as his go-to option.

Last season, we did see Mariota take over for Carr due to injury in the heartbreaking 30-27 overtime loss to the Chargers. In that game, Mariota stepped in and showcased he’s still got what it takes to run an offense in the NFL. Mariota finished in relief of Carr throwing for 226 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while rushing for 88 yards and adding another score.

With Carr leading the way last season, Las Vegas went 8-8 and missed out on the playoffs. Come 2021, fans are hoping he can power the team back to the postseason. Meanwhile for Mariota, unless something happens late, it’s looking like he’ll be riding the pine to start out 2021 and will have to patiently wait for his number to get called.