“It’s hard to imagine the #Raiders feel good about their backup QB situation,” reporter Tashan Reed said on August 24. Why? The Raiders’ quarterback room looked steady just a few weeks ago. HC Pete Carroll had Geno Smith as the starting quarterback. Then Aidan O’Connell was lined up as the backup, and rookie Cam Miller was waiting for his shot. That seemed like a balanced setup heading into Week 1. But football has a way of testing stability. With the preseason all wrapped up, the depth in the quarterback room in Las Vegas is all but gone. 

In the preseason finale against the Cardinals, Aidan O’Connell got sidelined with an injury, and it has left Pete Carroll scrambling. Now, with the Raiders set to face the Patriots in the regular season opener, Carroll suddenly faces one of the thinnest QB rooms in the league. So, what will be the head coach’s next move? According to the latest rumors, Carroll has already started hunting for another veteran arm. And surprisingly, that arm might belong to another quarterback who’s been dealing with his own injuries – Kenny Pickett. 

The Browns’ quarterback’s name might surprise you. After all, Cleveland just traded for Kenny Pickett this offseason, sending a fifth-round pick and Dorian Thompson-Robinson to the Eagles. But here’s the catch: Pickett didn’t play a single preseason game. Why? A hamstring injury in late July kept him sidelined. But Browns HC Kevin Stefanski recently said Pickett should be ready for Week 1 against the Bengals, so he might be a viable trade option for Pete Carroll. And there’s more to consider about the reasons behind the possibility of this trade. 

Firstly, readiness doesn’t guarantee Kenny Pickett an opportunity to play in Cleveland. Kevin Stefanski has already locked in Joe Flacco as the starting quarterback. Behind him, the backup race turned into a three-way fight between Pickett and a pair of rookies – Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. That’s a crowded room. And to make things messier, injuries at camp forced Cleveland to bring back Tyler Huntley just to eat practice reps. So let’s ask the real question: Do the Browns actually need Kenny Pickett?

Last week, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler had said, “I expect the Cleveland Browns to carry four quarterbacks on their final 53-man roster… They’re gonna keep both rookies, they’re gonna keep Flacco, so we’re really talking about Kenny Pickett, and I expect he makes the roster because quarterbacks are currency.” That makes sense. But the second possible reason that the Browns could trade Pickett would be that holding onto him means limiting Tyler Huntley’s chances. It also clogs the development path for the rookie quarterbacks in Cleveland. At some point, the Browns have to flip someone.

So, wouldn’t it be smart for Cleveland to sell high on Kenny Pickett now? They could easily recoup the fifth-round pick they gave to the Eagles and roll with the other four quarterbacks. Meanwhile, the Raiders would get a veteran quarterback. It feels like a win-win, doesn’t it? Here’s where things get tricky. If Carroll trades for Pickett, he’s taking a gamble on another injured quarterback. And that could again derail his plans, like it happened with Aidan O’Connell.

Aidan Connell’s injury delivers a massive blow to Pete Carroll’s plans

The quarterback room in Las Vegas took a big hit recently when Aidan O’Connell went out with an injury. While playing against the Cardinals in the preseason finale, Aidan O’Connell had started strong, going 3-of-4 for 36 yards. But then came the bad break – literally. The quarterback hurt his wrist in the second quarter and then went off the field. After the Raiders lost the game 20-10 to the Cardinals, Pete Carroll then shared more details on O’Connell’s injury.

“He fractured his wrist – he’s hurt – it’s going to be a while… That’s a big blow for us,” Pete Carroll said. So, the Raiders now expect Aidan O’Connell to miss six to eight weeks. For a player who started 9 games last season, threw for 1,612 yards, and logged 8 TDs against 4 INTs, that absence stings. He had just started to look comfortable as QB2 behind Geno Smith.

So, this setback also couldn’t have come at a worse time for Pete Carroll. Now, the head coach has a rookie QB in Cam Miller, who flashed potential at camp, completing 6-of-7 passes for 76 yards in his debut. But can the Raiders trust a rookie who only ran third-team reps all summer to back up Geno Smith in Foxborough on opening night?

That feels like too much, too soon. And, Pete Carroll knows the stakes. The Raiders play in a brutal AFC West division with the Chiefs, Chargers, and Broncos. So, they can’t afford instability at quarterback. With Aidan O’Connell sidelined, Pete Carroll now has two choices: trust Cam Miller and pray for the best, or push the front office to grab Kenny Pickett from Cleveland. Neither option feels perfect, but Carroll doesn’t have the luxury of perfection – he just needs stability and fast.