A new quarterback in Las Vegas with Aidan O’Connell out
According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, the Las Vegas Raiders are signing quarterback Desmond Ridder off the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad.
A new QB in Las Vegas: The #Raiders are signing Desmond Ridder off the #Cardinals practice squad, per sources.
Aidan O’Connell is headed to injured reserve and now Ridder, the former #Falcons starter, joins Gardner Minshew in the Raiders QB room. pic.twitter.com/lz1lY0Riis
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 21, 2024
With the news about Aidan O’Connell heading to injured reserve with a broken thumb suffered in Sunday’s 20-15 loss to the Los Angeles Rams breaking earlier today, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Raiders added another quarterback to the active roster. However, it is slightly shocking that Las Vegas went this route instead of promoting rookie undrafted free agent Carter Bradley, who is currently on the practice squad.
Ridder does have starting experience as he recorded 17 starts (19 total games) for the Atlanta Falcons in 2022 and 2023. He compiled an 8-9 record while completing 64 percent of his passes for 3,544 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also had 69 rushes for 257 yards and five touchdowns with the Falcons.
Atlanta drafted the University of Cincinnati product in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft with the hope that he could become the organization’s quarterback of the future. However, the front office opted to trade him to Arizona this offseason while Kirk Cousins signed in free agency and the club drafted Michael Penix Jr. in the first round of this past April’s draft.
Behind Kyler Murray, Ridder was in competition with Clayton Tune for the Cardinals’ backup quarterback spot this summer. Tune ended up winning the job, hence why Ridder was on the practice squad available for the Raiders to pick up.
Depending on how quickly Ridder can grasp the playbook, he’ll likely have a shot at starting in Las Vegas while O’Connell is out for the next four to six weeks. Gardner Minshew is the team’s presumptive starter moving forward, however, Minshew lost the job to O’Connell ahead of the Steelers game two weeks ago.
Ridder, who is just 25 years old and turns 26 in August, could also be considered a long shot to be the Raiders’ long-term solution under center. Those odds are slim, but he could get a chance to prove himself over the coming weeks as Las Vegas is currently searching for its quarterback of the future.
