The more I think about the idea of the Las Vegas Raiders chasing Russell Wilson in an exchange, the more I don’t like it … and that’s one thing, as I never really thought it was a great idea from the start.
And the first results of our survey show that most of you agree. This community does not want the Raiders to switch to Wilson – who named Las Vegas as one of four teams for which he would approve a Seattle Seahawks switch.
At the end of the day, I think Raiders are fine with Derek Carr as quarterback and they need to worry about spending their cap money and draft choices on defense – not on a new quarterback on a team that averaged 27 points in the last season.
However, if Raider czar Jon Gruden is delighted with the idea of getting an elite QB when he can (and can), I think Raiders should turn their attention to another star who wants a change of scenery: the quarterback Houston Texans, Deshaun Watson.
Wilson won a Super Bowl and is going to the Hall of Fame. Watson hasn’t won much yet and may never go to Canton. However, I would not bet against him. He’s an elite quarterback, he’s getting better and better and is hungry for a ring.
Watson is also cheaper than Wilson for now and the commercial compensation would be in the same neighborhood, although Watson may be more difficult to obtain. But the point is, if a team negotiates for Wilson or Watson, the price will be outrageous.
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Why Watson instead of Wilson? It’s simple math.
Watson turns 26 in September. Wilson turns 33 in November. A team can keep Watson for the next 14 years or more, about twice as long as Wilson’s career window.
This is priceless.
If the Raiders paid too much for Watson, they would have time to make up for all the missed choices in the draft and still build around it in the long run. What if the Raiders switch to Wilson and next year he suffers an injury at the end of the season? So, they hope he will recover after a lost season at age 35. That would be devastating, considering everything they would give up on him.
With Watson, they would have time.
So for me, if Raiders really want to be great as a quarterback (again, I don’t think they need to), they should see what it takes to catch Watson and not Wilson.
Of course, they should be flattered that Wilson is intrigued by them, but they shouldn’t think about it anymore.