One of the big signings that Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock made during the 2020 offseason was bringing in Marcus Mariota. However, that move didn’t really pay off for the Raiders as he threw a combined 30 passes over two seasons with the team.
However, he should still have a strong market in free agency this offseason as so many teams will be searching for a new starting quarterback. Mariota is only 28 years old, but he has 61 starts under his belt and is still dynamic as a rusher.
In a recent article by Pro Football Focus, they named Mariota the most “underrated free-agent quarterback” available. They believe he could have a very robust market over the next month. Here is a snippet of their thoughts on the former No. 2 overall pick from the 2015 NFL Draft:
“There is an argument to be made that Mariota is the most alluring free-agent quarterback on the market. That says a lot about the options out there, but nonetheless, if there has to be a choice, it’s Mariota. He has played meaningful NFL action in just one game over the last two years in Las Vegas — Week 15 of 2020 — and the results were quite good, as evidenced by his 82.1 PFF grade.
Mariota is the definition of a mid-tier option and could be seen as a bridge for a team with a rookie. His next team needs to employ a play-action-heavy offense that utilizes his athleticism in the designed run game.”
Teams like Pittsburgh, Washington and Tampa Bay would all make a ton of sense for Mariota. He is a veteran who has played in a bunch of big games and can make plays with his legs.
At this stage of the offseason, it feels very unlikely that Mariota will return to Las Vegas. Instead, look for the Raiders to be in the backup quarterback market in free agency. Players like Colt McCoy, Brian Hoyer and Jacoby Brissett would all make sense as backups to Derek Carr.
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