Who Should I Start? Joshua Dobbs or Aidan O'Connell

Monday, March 10, 6:18 PM

Free-agent veteran quarterback Joshua Dobbs reached an agreement with the New England Patriots on Monday on an undisclosed two-year deal, according to his agent, Mike McCartney. The 30-year-old journeyman signal-caller will head to the AFC East after spending the 2024 campaign with the San Francisco 49ers as a backup to Brock Purdy. Dobbs only appeared in two games (one start) for the Niners a season ago and went 32-for-47 for 361 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He saw his most action (13 games) with the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings in 2023 and threw for a career-high 2,464 yards with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2023, also adding 421 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 77 carries. Dobbs has gone 3-12 in his 15 career NFL starts. Turnovers and decision-making have been an issue, but he'll provide experience as a backup to second-year QB Drake Maye.

Friday, April 11, 12:07 PM

The Las Vegas Raiders signed quarterback Geno Smith to a two-year, $75 million contract extension this offseason, but it's extremely team-friendly, and The Athletic's Vic Tafur thinks bringing in a young QB in this year's NFL draft to learn behind Smith makes sense. Tafur also thinks the Raiders might trade backup Aidan O'Connell on draft weekend. The Raiders have a clear out with Smith after 2026, as they guaranteed only $18.5 of his $26.5 million 2026 salary, and none of the $39.5 million he's due to make in 2027. Minority owner Tom Brady likes the idea of rookie QBs sitting and learning, and the Raiders will have some interesting options later in the draft in what is considered a down year for QBs. Tafur doesn't think it makes much sense to take Colorado's Shedeur Sanders at No. 6 overall, and a good number of QBs could be off the board by the team's second pick at No. 37 overall.