Tag: Gardner Minshew

Can Gardner Minshew be more than a placeholder for the Raiders?

Gardner Minshew gets another shot to be a starting quarterback — this time with the Raiders. Can he put it all together this time around?

As they attempt to claw their way back to relevance, the Las Vegas Raiders are in need of a franchise quarterback, or something approaching that. Aidan O’Connell was the only serious candidate until Monday, when the team agreed to terms with veteran Gardner Minshew on a two-year, $25 million deal with $15 million fully guaranteed. That per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.

Selected in the sixth round of the 2019 draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Washington State, Minshew was denigrated in some circles because he played in Mike Leach’s air-raid offense, but he’s proven able to do more in different systems over time. Last season, he was the main man for the Indianapolis Colts after starter Anthony Richardson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, and Minshew completed 305 of 490 passes for 3,305 yards, 15 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and a passer rating of 84.6.

That would lead you to believe that Minshew might not be more than a guy competing in training camp for a job, but Minshew did have his moments for the Colts. He completed 20 of 51 passes of 20 or more air yards last season for 715 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 81.9. and he’s always been a better-than-average deep thrower.

Minshew has the capacity to lead an NFL offense if he keeps the randomness to a minimum and plays within structure — when that went south, things got a little weird.

Perhaps Minshew can keep everything in line, giving the Raiders more of a quarterback structure than they envisioned. This of course does not preclude the selection of a quarterback in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.

Gardner Minshew adds potential starter to Raiders QB room, draft insurance

Raiders get a QB! Adding a potential starter and valuable draft insurance

With a glaring need at quarterback, the Raiders were clearly unwilling to wait until the draft and hope they could either trade up to get their guy or have one fall to them at 13. They have gone out and signed one of the few free agent quarterbacks out there, agreeing to terms with Gardner Minshew on a two-year deal.

 

The former sixth round pick out of Washington State has started 37 games with a career record of 15-22. He is coming off a winning season with a 7-6 record for the Colts, nearly leading them to the playoffs and getting a nod for the Pro Bowl as an alternate.

The deal is reportedly for a total of $25 million with $15 million guaranteed and $12.5 million in his first season. Which is a solid deal for both sides.

Most importantly it gives the Raiders a viable option to compete as a starter and leaves open the possibility that they draft a quarterback as well.

Currently the Raiders sit at 13 overall. The draft’s to three QBs are expected to go 1-2-3 and prying the picks away from the Bears, Commanders, and Patriots — all of whom have a glaring need at QB — will be difficult and potentially impossible.

That leaves them with one of the next tier guys — Michigan’s JJ McCarthy, Oregon’s Bo Nix, and Washington’s Michael Penix. None of whom are considered day one starters like the top three and one or more of whom may be considered a reach at 13.

This draft was considered QB or bust for the Raiders, which is a tough spot to be in when you have a pick well outside the top ten. Minshew’s arrival takes some pressure off in that regard. And that’s a valuable thing.

I would still expect the Raiders to try and get one of the top six QBs in this draft. But if they can’t jump up to get one of the top three, getting one of the next three to compete with a veteran with plenty of starting experience doesn’t seem like as much of a risk as hoping for the best at 13 and just handing him whoever they land the keys.

Available free agent quarterbacks for the Broncos

How will the Broncos replace Russell Wilson in 2024? Here are some free agent quarterbacks the team could consider.

After releasing Russell Wilson, the Denver Broncos need to find a new starting quarterback this spring.

Assuming coach Sean Payton doesn’t plan to start Jarrett Stidham in Week 1, the Broncos will be looking to the free agent market for a potential QB1 this week. Options will include Kirk Cousins (but that would be difficult), Jameis Winston (who had success with Payton in the past) and Sam Darnold (who might be a realistic option).

Jimmy Garoppolo is not listed below because he’s technically not a free agent yet, but if the Las Vegas Raiders release him as expected, Jimmy G will be a name to watch as well.

So with the NFL’s free agency negotiating window set to open later today, here’s a quick list of 15 veteran free agent quarterbacks to keep an eye on. Note that Wilson makes the cut as a notable FA QB, but he won’t be returning to Denver. (Update: Wilson is signing with the Steelers.)

Predicting the fate of every Colts’ pending free agent in 2024

Predicting which Colts’ free agents stay and go in 2024.

The Indianapolis Colts are just over a week away from the start of free agency, and there are some big decisions to make when it comes to the players set to hit the market.

Expected to have roughly 14 unrestricted free agents set to hit the market this offseason, the Colts won’t be able to bring all of them back. In fact, it’s likely that most of them find a new home in 2024.

The team’s current standing with the salary cap is among the strongest the NFL.

We took a look at the players the Colts should let walk into free agency and the players who should be re-signed this offseason.

Now, it’s time to predict the fate of every pending free agent for the Colts in 2024.

Grading the Colts’ 2023 free agent signings one year later

One year later, grading the Colts’ 2023 free agent signings.

With the benefit of hindsight, we now have a full season’s worth of information to judge the signings the Indianapolis Colts made during the 2023 offseason.

Some of them panned out better than expected. Others not so much.

Simply looking at the outside free agents brought onto the roster last offseason, we’re here to re-grade the signings the Colts made one year later. So we won’t be discussing the re-signings of players like Tyquan Lewis and E.J. Speed, both of which turned out exceptionally.

For reference, we’ll compare the initial grade we gave at the moment to how we currently feel about the signing.

Without further ado, here are our grades for the Colts’ free-agent class of 2023 one year later:

Ranking Colts’ pending free agents by importance

Ranking the Colts’ most important pending free agents.

The Indianapolis Colts have 14 players set to be unrestricted free agents this offseason with a number of players from that list who were major contributors for the team in 2023.

The Colts, despite having the fifth most cap space in the NFL (roughly $58.9 million) according to Over The Cap, will have to make some potentially tough decisions in regard to how they allocate those funds this offseason

Here, we are ranking these 14 players by their importance to retain for general manager Chris Ballard and Indianapolis in 2024.

 

Ranking 2024’s top 12 free-agent quarterbacks

Here are the top 12 quarterbacks who are about to hit the open market

The Carolina Panthers certainly won’t be on the lookout for a quarterback this offseason—at least as far as their main roster is concerned. But let’s rank the ones who are about to hit the open market anyway.

Here are the top 12 free-agent quarterbacks of the 2024 offseason:

6 Quarterbacks Minnesota Vikings could target in free agency

Whether it’s Kirk Cousins or someone else, the Minnesota Vikings are likely to address the QB position in some fashion during NFL free agency. Here’s a look at the top six potential fits.

For better or worse, the 2024 Minnesota Vikings could potentially look a lot different than the team that took the field in 2023. The 2023 team had a ton of talent across the board, but was hamstrung by unforced errors and some unfortunate injury luck – particularly with starting quarterback Kirk Cousins. Once Cousins went down, the Vikings could not get consistent play at the position, and that undermined any chance the team had at a postseason run.

General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has an interesting choice he has to make in the offseason with regards to the quarterback position. On the one hand, he could make the decision to bring back Cousins for another run. Cousins has been prolific during his time in Minnesota, and it’s clear how much better the offense runs with him calling the shots as opposed to someone else.

On the other hand, the team hasn’t been able to achieve success with Cousins at the helm, having failed to make a Super Bowl run during his tenure in Minneapolis. Furthermore, Cousins will be 36 years old, coming off a significant Achilles’ tendon injury, and is going to command a fairly high price tag in free agency.

Someone is likely to pay that price for Cousins, but will that team be Minnesota? Should it be Minnesota? If it’s not Minnesota, what are the other options at the position? Let’s take a look at the potential 2024 NFL free agent market and the top options at quarterback

8 pending free agents the Colts should re-sign

The Colts should try to retain these 8 pending free agents.

The Indianapolis Colts have plenty of decisions to make with the 2024 offseason officially arriving, and that includes what to do with the crop of players set to hit free agency.

Working with roughly $58.9 million in salary-cap space, according to Over The Cap, the Colts will have enough money to re-sign a number of pending free agents before they hit the market in the middle of March.

Here’s a look at eight pending free agents the Colts should look to re-sign this offseason:

50 potential free-agent targets for the Falcons in 2024

Looking at 50 potential free-agent targets for the #Falcons in the 2024 offseason

The Atlanta Falcons went into the 2023 offseason with an abundance of salary cap space for the first time in years. That extra cash helped the team sign impact players like Jessie Bates, Calais Campbell and David Onyemata in free agency.

According to Over The Cap’s projections, the Falcons will have about $25 million in cap space this offseason. From quarterbacks to safeties, here’s a look at 50 potential free-agent targets for Atlanta in 2024.