Insider Pitches Trade That Has Raiders Land Bills QB to Replace Aidan O’Connell

In a perfect world, Aidan O’Connell would not have seen the field much for the Las Vegas Raiders this season. Geno Smith is the starter, and if the team is going to push for the playoffs, they need him to start nearly every game.

However, O’Connell has gotten valuable starting experience over the last two seasons, so he was a solid option to have as a backup. Unfortunately for the young quarterback, he fractured his wrist in the Raiders’ last preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.

He’ll now miss six to eight weeks as he recovers. The Raiders like rookie sixth-round pick Cam Miller, but he’s not ready to start games if they need him to. The team will need some kind of insurance policy in case Smith gets hurt at any point during the season.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell thinks the Raiders could go with a safe choice and call up the Buffalo Bills. He pitched a trade that sees Las Vegas send a sixth-round pick to the Bills for quarterback Mike White and a seventh-round pick.

“Without a sixth-round pick in the 2026 draft, the Bills would be convinced to go with that two-QB option and let White move to Las Vegas,” Barnwell wrote. “The Raiders would land a quarterback with a 43.1 Total QBR over his four active NFL seasons, a perfectly reasonable figure for a backup making $1.2 million this season. Coach Pete Carroll obviously won’t want to end up in a situation where he has to turn to White, but the journeyman would be a reasonable short-term rental for a scenario in which the Raiders need someone to fill in for Smith before O’Connell returns from his injury.”

Should Raiders Add Young QB With More Upside?

White is a solid veteran who has been in the NFL since 2018. Despite being in the NFL for that long, he has only played in 15 games, with just seven of them being starts. He has also thrown nine touchdowns to 13 interceptions.

If he has to start games, the Raiders don’t likely have a chance to win many of them. It could be wiser for Las Vegas to add a younger quarterback with some upside. Anthony Richardson with the Indianapolis Colts might be on the trade block, and he at least has some exciting athletic ability if the Raiders needed to play him.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson is a Free Agent

Dorian Thompson-Robinson was a popular name among Raiders fans after O’Connell got hurt. This is due to his ties to offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. He played under the coach for five seasons at UCLA.

When he’s had a chance to play, he hasn’t done well, having thrown one touchdown to 10 interceptions in his career. However, he knows Kelly’s system well, and he at least has more upside than a player like White.

Plus, he was just recently released by the Philadelphia Eagles, so he can be signed without having to make a trade. The Raiders may still prefer a veteran with a bit more starting experience, but they could do worse than Thompson-Robinson.