Chiefs' Gardner Minshew: Slated to back up Mahomes
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Minshew (collarbone) has agreed to a one-year deal with the Chiefs, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
The Raiders released Minshew (collarbone) on Wednesday with a failed physical designation, but just one day later the 28-year-old landed his next assignment, that of backing up star QB Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. In that context, Minshew will remain off the fantasy radar as long as Mahomes is available, but in the event that Mahomes misses any time in 2025, Minshew provides the Chiefs with an experienced and reliable backup option to turn to.
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Gardner Minshew: Released with injury designation
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The Raiders released Minshew (collarbone) on Wednesday with a failed physical designation, Vic Tafur of The Athletic reports.
Minshew is still recovering from the season-ending broken collarbone he sustained Nov. 24. He may well need to wait until he's demonstrably healthy to find a new landing spot. The 28-year-old signal caller started nine of his 10 appearances with Las Vegas in 2024, completing 203 of 306 pass attempts (66.3 percent) for 2,013 yards, nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Minshew may well have to settle for a backup gig as his next opportunity, though there are still teams around the league looking for stopgaps at the No. 1 quarterback spot.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Headed for release
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The Raiders plan to release Minshew (collarbone) when the new league year begins next Wednesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Minshew is entering the final season of a two-year contract, following a 2024 campaign that ended early when he suffered a broken collarbone Nov. 24. He should be recovered from the injury in time for offseason activities, but there's no guarantee of him getting another shot to compete for a starting job, as he may have to settle for a backup role this time around. Over his 10 appearances for Las Vegas this past season, Minshew completed 203 of 306 pass attempts (66.3 percent) for 2,013 yards, nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions while adding 58 yards on 19 carries.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Officially moved to IR
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Minshew (collarbone) was placed on injured reserve Thursday.
The move was a foregone conclusion, as Minshew broke his left collarbone last Sunday against Denver and had already been ruled out for the rest of the season. Second-year quarterback Aidan O'Connell was activated from IR in a corresponding transaction and is set to start against Kansas City on Friday. Desmond Ridder will continue serving as Las Vegas' backup QB.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Will get more tests on shoulder
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Head coach Antonio Pierce told reporters after Sunday's 29-19 loss to the Broncos that Minshew's left shoulder injury "doesn't look good," and the quarterback will need further testing to determine the severity of the injury, Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com reports.
Minshew injured his left shoulder on a sack late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game. He went to the locker room and did not return, with backup Desmond Ridder taking over under center for the rest of the contest. The Raiders' next game is Friday against the Chiefs, and Pierce relayed there is a chance Aidan O'Connell (thumb) could be activated from injured reserve and suit up for Week 13 if Minshew cannot play, per Tashan Reed of The Athletic.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Week 12 Waiver Priority List
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Minshew is expected to remain the starting quarterback for the Raiders in Week 12, and he just had a solid outing in Week 11 at Miami with 21.9 Fantasy points. We'll see if he keeps the job for the rest of the season, and he closes the year with a favorable schedule against Tampa Bay (Week 14), Atlanta (Week 15), Jacksonville (Week 16) and New Orleans (Week 17). But prior to that he faces Denver (Week 12) and Kansas City (Week 13), and those are matchups to avoid. Minshew should be rostered in all Superflex and two-quarterback leagues for at least 10 percent of your remaining FAB.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Impressive yardage total in loss
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Minshew completed 30 of 43 passes for 282 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while adding two carries for seven yards in the Raiders' 34-19 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday.
Minshew accumulated a season high in passing yards while mustering just his second multi-TD effort of the campaign. The veteran quarterback focused the overwhelming majority of his attention on Brock Bowers, who accounted for 13 of Minshew's completions on 16 targets. The remainder of Minshew's production was spread among six other pass catchers, and his pair of scoring tosses landed in the hands of Bowers (23 yards) and Ameer Abdullah (10 yards). Aidan O'Connell (IR, thumb) will remain out for several more weeks, so Minshew will be under center again for a tough Week 12 home matchup against the Broncos next Sunday.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Keeping starting job for Week 11
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Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said that Minshew will remain the team's starting quarterback for Sunday's game against the Dolphins, Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com reports.
Following the Raiders' 41-24 loss to the Bengals in Week 9, Pierce said that he would evaluate the team's quarterback situation during the Week 10 bye, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic. Pierce has ultimately decided to stick with Minshew, with Pierce telling Gutierrez that Minshew gives the team "the best opportunity to move forward, and he has every opportunity to go out there and help us get to a win." Desmond Ridder will thus remain in a backup role behind Minshew, who had opened the season as Oakland's starter before losing the job to Aidan O'Connell in Week 6 and then regaining it after O'Connell suffered a fractured thumb in a Week 7 loss to the Rams.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Starting Sunday
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Coach Antonio Pierce confirmed Friday that Minshew will be the Raiders' starting quarterback Sunday against the Chiefs, Heidi Fang of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
Aidan O'Connell came out of a Week 7 loss to the Rams with a broken thumb that forced him to injured reserve and will require 4-to-6 weeks to recover from. Minshew unsurprisingly will retake the reins of Las Vegas' offense, but he does have another experienced option behind him after the team signed Desmond Ridder off the Cardinals' practice squad earlier this week. Ridder will be the No. 2 QB on Sunday, while Minshew will make his fifth appearance of the campaign. In the first four, Minshew completed 52 of 82 passes for 455 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Benched for O'Connell
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Head coach Antonio Pierce said Wednesday that Minshew has been demoted to a backup role, with Aidan O'Connell named the Raiders' starting quarterback for Sunday's game against Pittsburgh, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Minshew kept the starting job for five weeks, going 2-3 while completing 70.7 percent of his passes for 7.2 yards per attempt with four touchdowns and five interceptions. His two worst statistical games were the most recent two outings, for which No. 1 wide receiver Davante Adams (hamstring) was inactive. O'Connell may also end up playing without Adams, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury and remains a frequent subject in trade rumors.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: No starter for Week 6 named
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Head coach Antonio Pierce declined to name Minshew or Aidan O'Connell the starting quarterback for the Raiders' Week 6 game against the Steelers during his Monday press conference, Tashan Reed of The Athletic reports.
Minshew completed 12 of 17 passes for 137 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions before being pulled for O'Connell in the third quarter of Sunday's 34-18 loss to the Broncos. Across four drives, O'Connell wasn't much more impressive, as he completed 10 of 20 passes for 93 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. Minshew now has been benched twice in Las Vegas' last three games, so it looks like the team will seriously evaluate options at the quarterback position heading into a difficult home game against Pittsburgh this coming Sunday.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Starting role in question
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Minshew completed 12 of 17 passes for137 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in Sunday's 34-18 loss to the Broncos. He added two rushes for 22 yards.
Minshew began the game fairly well, as he led the Raiders on two lengthy drives that resulted in 10 points -- the first of which was capped by a 57-yard touchdown pass. However, things stalled from there, with the low point coming on a 100-yard pick-six by Patrick Surtain. After five additional scoreless drives and another interception, Minshew was pulled late in the third quarter. That marks the second time he's been benched in the last three games, and after the loss, coach Antonio Pierce did not rule out a change under center, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Quarterback change not ruled out
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Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said Monday he hasn't ruled out the possibility of benching Minshew in favor of Aidan O'Connell to face the Browns in Week 4, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Pierce said he pulled Minshew for O'Connell late in Sunday's 36-22 loss to the Panthers to "look for a spark," per Tashan Reed of The Athletic, but the team doesn't appear to have yet made a firm decision as to who will start Week 4. Minshew completed 18 of 28 passes for just 214 yards, one touchdown and one interception versus Carolina, though a substantial portion of his production (including his lone TD) came in garbage time. O'Connell, for his part, completed nine of 12 passes for 82 yards and one touchdown, as he also took advantage of more lenient defensive looks late in the fourth quarter. In three regular-season games thus far, Minshew has failed to reach 300 passing yards on any occasion and has thrown exactly one touchdown and one interception in each contest.
Minshew is second in the NFL in passing yards and has two elite pass catchers in Davante Adams and Brock Bowers. The Panthers haven't stopped anyone all season, but I expect Andy Dalton to at least make them more competitive on the offensive side of the ball. If they stay in this game, Minshew could be a top-12 QB in Week 3.
Minshew completed 30 of 38 passes for 276 yards with a touchdown and an interception while rushing once for minus-1 yard in the Raiders' 26-23 win over the Ravens on Sunday. He also committed a fumble recovered by Las Vegas.
Minshew took his share of hits from the Ravens' aggressive defense, suffering five sacks on the afternoon. However, he and his teammates persevered, overcoming a 10-point second-half deficit to knot the game at 23 via Minshew's one-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams with just under four minutes remaining in the game. Minshew would eventually helm a game-winning drive capped off by a Daniel Carlson field goal, recording his first win in a Raiders uniform on an afternoon when he connected with seven different targets overall. Minshew and the Raiders next do battle with the reeling Panthers at home in Week 3.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Won't play in final preseason game
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Minshew and other starters won't play in Friday's preseason finale against the 49ers, Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com reports.
Minshew was competent but unspectacular this preseason, completing 16 of 33 passes for 212 yards in two games, without any touchdowns or turnovers. Raiders coach Antonio Pierce named the 28-year-old as his Week 1 starter Sunday, leaving Aidan O'Connell as the backup QB heading into a season opener on the road against the Chargers (Sept. 8). In the meantime, Minshew and O'Connell both will sit out the final preseason game, leaving Carter Bradley and Nathan Peterman to handle QB snaps.
Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said Sunday that Minshew will be the team's starting quarterback to open the 2024 regular season, Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com reports.
Pierce also said that Minshew's experience was the deciding factor when awarding him the starting job over second-year signal-caller Aidan O'Connell, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic. The six-year veteran has started 37 of his 49 career games compared to 10 starts with a 5-5 record for O'Connell during his rookie season in Las Vegas. Minshew was also was named to his first career Pro Bowl with Indianapolis last year, when he tossed 15 touchdowns to nine interceptions and 3,305 yards across 17 games, and he completed 16 of 33 combined passing attempts for 212 yards and one touchdown over two games so far this preseason. It's still unlikely that he figures into the team's long-term plans at quarterback, but Minshew now will lead an offense lacking in proven receiving weapons other than star wideout Davante Adams (undisclosed), as Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker should round out the starting wideouts while tight ends Brock Bowers (foot) and Michael Mayer are likely to be featured as well. The Raiders will open the season on the road Sunday, Sept. 8 versus the Chargers.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Leads three scoring drives Saturday
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Minshew completed six of 12 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's 24-23 preseason loss to the Vikings.
While he wasn't exactly efficient, Minshew put points on the board quickly for the Raiders after taking the reins from Aidan O'Connell to begin the second quarter. Minshew tossed a 20-yard strike to DJ Turner for the game's first touchdown, then led two more scoring drives before halftime, including one capped by a two-yard TD plunge from Zamir White. The battle between O'Connell and Minshew for the Week 1 starting job would appear to be a dead heat heading into Las Vegas' next preseason contest against Dallas next Saturday.
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Raiders' Gardner Minshew: Gaining edge on O'Connell
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Minshew outplayed Aidan O'Connell during Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage, Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com reports
Minshew got the first reps with the first-team offense -- something that's rotated between him and O'Connell throughout training camp. The former proceeded to throw a pair of TD passes, while O'Connell didn't have any and was picked off twice. It's only one practice, but Gutierrez suggests that Minshew may be pulling ahead in the competition between himself and O'Connell. Still, the ongoing job battle bears close watching this preseason, with the Raiders likely to play their starters more than a lot of other teams will.
Minshew remains poised to compete with Aidan O'Connell for the starting job this offseason, with the Raiders not having added to the quarterback position in the 2024 NFL Draft, Mark Anderson of the Associated Press reports.
Minshew joined Las Vegas early in free agency back in March, and while it looked like the team was a candidate to add a rookie via April's draft, six quarterbacks came off the board before the Raiders' first-round selection of tight end Brock Bowers at No. 13 overall. Las Vegas also boosted the O-line with premium picks, selecting second-round guard Jackson Powers-Johnson and third-round tackle Delmar Glaze, so whichever of Minshew or O'Connell ultimately wins the starting role looks to be in a notably better position to succeed.
