For the third straight year, the Las Vegas Raiders are releasing their Week 1 starting quarterback from the previous season.
As expected, NFL Media reported, that the Raiders will release Gardner Minshew next Wednesday when the new league year begins. This is not a surprise at all.
The #Raiders informed QB Gardner Minshew they’ll release him when the new league year begins next Wednesday, per sources.
Minshew has 46 career starts and is still only 28 years old. An experienced option available. pic.twitter.com/m9xZLzeK7l
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 5, 2025
Minshew, who turns 29 in May, signed a two year, $25 million deal on the first day of free agency in 2024 with $15 million in guaranteed money. He has about $3 million in guaranteed money remaining and the Raiders, who are projected to have the second most salary-cap room in the NFL this year, will save about $3 million. In theory, the Raiders could still trade Minshew in the next week, but that may not be likely.
Minshew’s time in Las Vegas was a disaster. The journeyman was selected over incumbent Aidan O’Connell after training camp as the starter. But he was injured multiple times and he was replaced multiple times as well.
In the end, Minshew, whose season ended in November after he broke his collarbone, started nine games for the Raiders and went 2-7 as a starter. He threw for 2,013 yards with nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Still, because the hunger for quarterbacks in the league, Minshew will likely find work as a backup in 2024 in free agency.
He joins Derek Carr (2023) and Jimmy Garoppolo (2024) as starting Raiders’ quarterbacks who were released. The Raiders could cut other veterans like Minshew in the next week, but there is no urgency because of their salary-cap health. One possibility could be center Andre James.
The Raiders have just O’Connell and 2024 undrafted free agent Carter Bradley as quarterbacks on the roster. But they are expected to address the position, likely both in free agency and in the draft.