The Las Vegas Raiders have a big decision to make at quarterback, but there's still a possibility where they may not have to look outside the organization.
Quarterback Jarrett Stidham seized his opportunity when he made his first two NFL starts at the end of the 2022 season, including a 365-yard, three-touchdown performance in an overtime loss against a very good San Francisco 49ers team.
Regardless of what Stidham's role would be if the Raiders were to re-sign him, General Manager Dave Ziegler isn't counting out keeping him around.
"It's in the picture," Ziegler said at the NFL Combine last Tuesday. "Like anything, those conversations are fluid, and he's not under contract at this point. So we're happy with what he did, and he's a player, obviously that, because of his experience in the system, there's value in that. So we'll look at that market. There's a lot of players in that market this year that we've evaluated, that are going to get to be a part of that equation too. So we'll see how it ends up working out, but ultimately, we would like Jarrett to be a Raider going forward, just have to see how it fits together."
Ziegler acknowledged the fact that there's still much Stidham needs to prove, seeing as though he has only started two games for the club.
"We had never seen him play a live football game," Ziegler said. "So anytime you get to see someone when the bullets are really flying, playing against top-tier competition on the other side of the ball, there's value in seeing that. And so there was value in seeing that with Jarrett. We've always thought Jarrett was a good football player and that he had the potential to play well. Seeing it, yes it provides more validation. There's less question marks. Now, it's a two-game sample. We also were 0-2 in those two games. So while yes, there's some validation to it, I'd still say there's still a lot of questions to answer on that position because the sample size was so small."
The 2023 NFL Draft will go from April 27-29 and be held at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. On March 7, 2023, before 4 p.m. EST, is the club's deadline to designate Franchise or Transition Players.
March 13-15 is the free agent negotiation period. Starting at 12 p.m. EDT on March 13 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m. EDT on March 15, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2022 Player Contracts at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15.
The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period begins at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15. The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free-agent market this season.
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