Aidan O'Connell

The Raiders have an opening after firing Antonio Pierce, the team's second head coach in two seasons. Monken has already had interview requests from the Jaguars and Bears after helping the Ravens to one of the best offenses in the league. The Raiders are still figuring out their quarterback situation with Aidan O'Connell, Gardner Minshew, and company, but Monken would add depth to the team's stagnant offense. Lions coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn have also been requested to interview, as well as Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo as the Raiders look to poach from the top teams in the league. Monken has a playoff run ahead of him with a potent Ravens offense and the Raiders hope to explore his high-scoring playbook for their head coaching job.

It turns out that not being told anything different yesterday didn't actually mean much. Pierce, who went 5-4 as an interim coach last year, went 4-13 in 2024 with a roster that had almost no offensive upside. The little it did have walked out the door midseason when the team parted with Davante Adams in a trade to the Jets. Pierce was often bafflingly conservative as a game manager, giving Daniel Carlson 40 field-goal opportunities, and spoke after the season about not trusting his gut when it came to starting Aidan O'Connell over Gardner Minshew. The Raiders got a little scrappier after installing Scott Turner at offensive coordinator after the bye, but ultimately neither side of the ball played above their meager talent levels. It's not Pierce's fault the Raiders weren't a winner, the seeds of that were sewn several years ago. But he clearly wasn't elevating them either. Pierce's future is an open question at this point as the NCAA has banned him from coaching through the year 2032 as part of a show-cause penalty against Arizona State. He may resurface as a defensive coordinator or, more likely, a linebackers coach on an NFL staff.

O'Connell's tumultuous year comes to an end on a high note with 713 yards, three touchdowns, and just one interception in his final three starts, two of which were wins. Gardner Minshew initially won the starting job and the Raiders were reluctant to bench him despite his poor play. They eventually pulled the trigger in Week 6, marking AOC's first start. He lasted less than two games before suffering a broken bone in his right thumb, sidelining him for four weeks. O'Connell returned to the starting role once again, only to suffer another injury, this time a bone bruise in his knee. O'Connell was roughly as good as Minshew and definitively better than Desmond Ridder, solidifying his status as a viable backup. The Raiders are all but certainly drafting a quarterback, but O'Connell has done enough through two seasons to stick with the team as a reserve or possibly a bridge option in 2025.

The Raiders must decide if Aidan O'Connell or a player not on the current roster will be their QB in 2025.

The Raiders have had five different starting quarterbacks the past two years since moving on from Derek Carr.