Raiders highest-upside QB fix is currently on the Vikings one way or another

What was obvious entering the 2024 NFL season became abundantly clear in the Las Vegas Raiders' Week 5 loss to the Denver Broncos. They do not have their franchise quarterback currently on their roster.

Gardner Minshew was a nice story from last season and is a fun player to root for, but he's far from a franchise guy. Aidan O'Connell looks like a solid backup, but nothing more.

Minshew had started each of the first five games for the Raiders this season but was benched late in the third quarter in what turned out to be an embarrassing Week 5 loss in Denver. O'Connell replaced him with a chance to potentially steal the starting role, but all he did was complete 10 of his 20 passing attempts for 94 yards while throwing an interception. It's anyone's best guess as to who starts their Week 6 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

An argument can easily be made that neither quarterback should be on their roster in the 2025 season. It'd be abhorrent to make the argument that one of them should start in 2025. The answer to this issue has to come from outside of the organization.

While the Raiders are 2-3 on the year, chances are, they won't finish with one of the two or three worst records in the league even with the Minshew/O'Connell tandem running the show, making it unlikely that they find their solution in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. What they can do, potentially, is find their solution involving someone currently in the league. The Minnesota Vikings are an intriguing team for Vegas to look at.

The Vikings have two quarterbacks who can arguably profile as franchise-level guys currently on their roster. Raiders GM Tom Telesco should strongly consider landing one of them.

Raiders quarterback solution might be on the Vikings current roster

Finding their franchise guy in the draft might be hard, as this roster shouldn't finish with one of the three worst records in the league, so Telesco has to get creative. Having a team like the Vikings with two legitimate options makes them an intriguing team to look at.

Sam Darnold has taken the league by storm in his first year with the Vikings. Not only is the team 5-0, but Darnold, even after a rough day on Sunday, is tied for the NFL lead with 11 touchdown passes. He's squarely in the MVP discussion, if not the favorite right now.

What makes Darnold interesting from a Raiders perspective is the fact that he's a free agent after the year. Will the Vikings re-sign him knowing that they just took J.J. McCarthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft? If the answer is no, then the Raiders can sign him. The sample size of Darnold playing at a high level in the NFL is small, so they'd need to see more, but he certainly looks to be blossoming at the perfect time.

If the Vikings are blown away by Darnold and do look to re-sign him, that'd almost certainly make McCarthy available via trade, as it'd make no sense to keep them both. McCarthy might've begun this season as Minnesota's starter had he not torn his meniscus in the preseason. The Raiders even got a front-row seat to McCarthy's strong preseason debut before the injury.

It'd cost a ton to get their hands on McCarthy, given the fact that he was just taken in the first round, but a franchise QB is worth a high asking price. McCarthy is unproven, but obviously would come with a lot of potential - possibly more than any QB Las Vegas can realistically draft.

Both Darnold and McCarthy would come with questions as franchise QBs, but they'd both come with tremendous upside - far better than what Vegas has and can realistically get as of now. Whichever quarterback the Vikings don't want long-term is the one that the Raiders should strongly consider pursuing.