Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell. Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Raiders QB shares surprising reason for switching jersey number

By Adam Patrick | Last updated 5/22/24

To the surprise of some, the Las Vegas Raiders didn't make much of an attempt to end up with one of the top quarterback prospects in last month's NFL Draft. Instead, the Raiders are currently heading into the 2024 season with Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew at the top of their quarterback depth chart.

Is Las Vegas shifting their focus to adding a new signal-caller in the 2025 draft, or do they actually believe O'Connell or Minshew can be their solution under center for the next few years?

Well, if O'Connell ends up appearing in any games for the Raiders next season, he'll be doing it with a new number on his jersey. After wearing the No. 4 with Las Vegas last year, the young quarterback switched to No. 12 earlier this offseason.

It wasn't a change that many put too much thought into, but O'Connell recently shared why he made the switch, and his explanation might surprise some people.

During a recent appearance on teammate Maxx Crosby's "The Rush with Maxx Crosby" podcast, the Raiders quarterback revealed the main reason why he decided to change his jersey number for the 2024 season.

"When the offseason came, it felt to me it was [Derek Carr's] number. He wore it for that long and he’s a franchise leader and all that stuff. It felt disrespectful, so I just wanted to kind of give that back to him.”

So there you have it. O'Connell shared that he will now wear the No. 12 instead of the No. 4 on his jersey because he felt it was disrespectful to former Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr.

While it's true that Carr is someone who many people currently think of when a Raiders No. 4 jersey is discussed, it's a little odd that O'Connell felt he was disrespecting a guy who failed to lead the franchise to a single playoff win during his nine years with the team.

Just because a player spent a long time with one organization, it doesn't mean that their jersey number is automatically off-limits when they leave. Especially a player like Carr, who didn't have much success during his time with Las Vegas.

But instead of "disrespecting" Carr, O'Connell will now wear the No. 12 on his jersey next season, a number that was worn by former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon when he won the NFL MVP and led the team to the Super Bowl in 2002.

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