Las Vegas Raiders’ attempt to prop up the trade value of a former starter backfired majorly after just one preseason game
A lot of things went right for the Las Vegas Raiders in their first preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. A lot of things also went wrong. I know what I’ve said — the starting unit going out against the Seahawks backups and not doing anything at all is kind of a red flag, but […]
A lot of things went right for the Las Vegas Raiders in their first preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. A lot of things also went wrong.
I know what I’ve said — the starting unit going out against the Seahawks backups and not doing anything at all is kind of a red flag, but it’s not anything to freak out about. They are still knocking the rust off.
But, that’s not even one of the biggest things that happened to the Raiders that went wrong. If you ask me, the biggest may be what happened with Aidan O’Connell, as he kind of tarnished his image around the league. Why does that matter? Why does it matter what his league image is?
Well, I’m glad you asked.
Raiders were showcasing Aidan O’Connell for trade market
We knew this a while ago with O’Connell — the Raiders testing the waters and the market on O’Connell. They drafted Cam Miller in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and he may just be better than O’Connell already. Okay, maybe not, but he certainly played better than O’Connell on Thursday, and definitely has a higher potential. We now know that O’Connell is pretty much a career backup in the NFL.
And, that’s not necessarily a bad thing — backup quarterbacks are some of the most important players on the team. When the main guy gets hurt, the backup now has the whole season on his shoulders and is responsible for whether or not the team plays well on offense. And, they make some pretty good money, too.
That’s just what O’Connell is. His potential is not very high at all, while Cam Miller looks like he could end up being a very good quarterback. So, playing O’Connell for almost the entire game on Thursday was more of a move to showcase him for trade value. They would like to trade him. Now, they aren’t in a rush to do so, but they would like to do it eventually. But their plan backfired, because now his value is a bit worse.
Not only did Aidan O’Connell look pretty bad on Thursday in the preseason game, as he threw two interceptions, both pretty bad throws where he stared down the receiver, but he also got massively outplayed by Cam Miller. Now that the stock has gone down a bit. Now, it’s not the end of the world, because he can still play good in the next two preseason games.
But, now everyone wants to see what the rookie can do. We only got to see a handful of minutes from Miller, and he looked amazing. The next two preseason games could actually end up being pretty significant.
