An emergency Raiders-Steelers trade that would replace Gardner Minshew a week late

The Las Vegas Raiders' season has been difficult to get a handle on. Antonio Pierce's squad toppled the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2, only to turn around and get smacked by the Carolina Panthers in Week 3. Some thought their Week 4 victory over the Cleveland Browns was a step back in the right direction, but then Week 5 saw Las Vegas on the receiving end of a Denver Broncos smackdown.

Now 2-3 on the season, there are unanswered questions abound within the Raiders organization. The primary question: how much longer can Gardner Minshew hold on to the starting QB gig?

His coach has left the door wide open for a midseason Aidan O'Connell takeover. The Raiders want to win games, so even with Davante Adams halfway out the door, expect Antonio Pierce to strongly consider switching it up under center. O'Connell was able to stack a few wins as a rookie and Minshew, for all his NFL experience, has never really led a contender.

Minshew inked a modest two-year contract during the offseason, so the Raiders are committed on some level, but it could be time to start thinking about trades. The sad truth is that O'Connell is not a great option either, so if the Raiders want to meaningfully upgrade their signal-caller situation, their solution will probably need to come from outside the organization.

One obvious trade candidate is Pittsburgh Steelers veteran Russell Wilson, who still hasn't made his regular season debut in PGH. For all the justifiable apprehension tied to Wilson's unique track record, he's a competent starting quarterback with strong connections to the AFC West. Heck, he probably would've relished the opportunity to face Denver in Week 5 — an opportunity he did not receive when the Steelers battled the Broncos in Week 2 with Russ on the sideline due to injury.

Raiders-Steelers trade to replace Gardner Minshew with Russell Wilson

A simple day-three pick swap should be enough to grease the wheels on this trade. In theory, Minshew is the better asset due to age and contract stability, but Russ could give the Raiders that missing spark offensively. We shouldn't overstate Wilson's ability, but he managed a healthy 26:8 touchdown-to-turnover ratio last season across 15 starts, completing 66.8 percent of his passes while the Broncos went 7-8 under his command.

Nothing special, but also not the abhorrent and unconditional failure some make it out to be. Russ in Las Vegas just makes sense from an image and marketing perspective, too, so most Raiders fans have been preparing for this possibility for years.

In turn, the Steelers get Minshew on an affordable two-year, $25 million contract to back up Justin Fields in the short term and provide some measure of stability to the QB room looking ahead to next season, when Fields comes off the books. He may never actually start a game in Pittsburgh, but Minshew quickly goes from a bottom-tier starter to possibly the best backup quarterback in the league. And, in the process, Pittsburgh unloads whatever baggage is associated with rostering (and potentially never starting) a Super Bowl champ and nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback.

It would've been neat to see Russ on the field against Denver over the weekend, but Las Vegas will face the Broncos again before the season is out. Wilson gets his chance at revenge (eventually) and a stable role, while Pittsburgh gets a fresh face and a solid alternative to Fields.

This trade has the distinct sensation of a potential win-win move.