The quarterback carousel is going to be wild yet again this offseason. We already know that Ben Roethlisberger is retiring, but it appears possible that both Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady are contemplating retirement.
And with the 2022 draft not being strong at quarterback, teams are going to want to get their guy early on in the process. That means someone like Marcus Mariota, who has not started a game since October 13, 2019, could get some starting offers in free agency.
In a recent article by ESPN, they took a look at each team’s biggest free-agent going into the offseason. For the Raiders, that was none other than Mariota. Here is what senior writer Paul Gutierrez had to say about the free-agent quarterback:
“Yes, an underused backup quarterback whose greatest skill set is in an area that’s an Achilles’ heel for the Raiders — red zone efficiency — is the biggest looming free-agent decision. Because with so many dominoes still to fall with the Raiders — from a new general manager to potentially a new coach — starter Derek Carr’s status also bears watching. And if Las Vegas was to bring back Mariota, it would likely not be as a backup again.”
Mariota would an intriguing option for several teams looking for a dynamic quarterback. He does have 61 career starts under his belt and he is only 28 years old. Add on the fact that he’s taken his team to the playoffs and has a career yards per passing attempt of 7.5 and it’s not hard to see why he’ll have a market.
After spending the last two years with the Raiders getting healthy, don’t be surprised if Mariota signs a better-than-expected deal early in free agency. Mariota threw just 30 passes with the Raiders in two years, earning $12.6 million. It seems likely the Raiders will move on this offseason and search for a much cheaper backup option.
There could be as many as 16 teams changing quarterbacks this offseason and that bodes well for Mariota and other veteran quarterbacks. Given his athleticism, experience and age, look for Mariota to get a fairly big deal this offseason.
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