Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce certainly seemed to take a shot at veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo while speaking at the NFL scouting combine on Wednesday about what Pierce is looking for in a future QB1.
“I would hope whoever we draft, that’s the route we go, that’s who the starter becomes,” Pierce explained, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic. “You don’t want to put a Band-Aid at that position. That’s old … that’s old, man. I think the Raiders … we’ve seen that enough in this organization.”
The Raiders parted ways with longtime starter Derek Carr last offseason and then signed Garoppolo after the San Francisco 49ers replaced Jimmy G atop their depth chart with 2022 rookie sensation Brock Purdy. In total, Garoppolo made just six starts for Las Vegas and ultimately lost the job to 2023 fourth-round draft selection Aidan O’Connell.
It was reported not long after Garoppolo received a two-game suspension for a violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy that the 32-year-old “had a reputation for being aloof in San Francisco” and that “some of those problems carried over to Vegas.” The Raiders are expected to release Garoppolo sooner rather than later.
Las Vegas entered the final day of February holding the 13th overall choice in this year’s draft and theoretically could move up even a couple of spots, if necessary, to grab a signal-caller such as J.J. McCarthy of the Michigan Wolverines. ESPN’s Jordan Reid reported on Thursday that he is hearing “McCarthy will be the fourth quarterback off the board” this spring.
“I want a guy that can lead, that wants to compete,” Pierce explained. “I want a guy that’s not afraid of a challenge because this is a big challenge that we have in front of us. We’ve got the world champs in our division again. You know what you have to deal with each and every year as long as you have (Kansas City Chiefs star) Patrick Mahomes in our division. I want somebody that says: ‘You know what? I am up for that challenge.'”
The Raiders are among teams routinely linked with current Chicago Bears starter Justin Fields. Fields may not cost as much to land in a trade as thought even a week ago.
“You want guys with a bunch of starts underneath their belts — you don’t want a one-hit wonder,” Pierce added. “You don’t want a guy who had one year of success and say that’s the guy. You want someone who has been battle-tested, that has been through adversity, had challenges and wasn’t just handed the keys. Because that’s going to be the process here no matter what we do.”
