Gardner Minshew will open the season as the Las Vegas Raiders' starting quarterback, coach Antonio Pierce announced Sunday. Minshew, who signed with the Raiders as a free agent this offseason, was competing with Aidan O'Connell for the job.
Pierce said the decision was made after consulting with general manager Tom Telesco and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. The head coach pointed out the "experience" of Minshew, who is entering his sixth NFL season.
"A lot of things went into it," Pierce said. "It wasn't based off of [solely] last night. There's a lot of factors. So, we feel like Gardner gives us the best opportunity to get off to a fast start, and that's what we're going with. We support him, our team's behind it, our staff's behind it, the organization's behind it."
The Raiders open the 2024 season at the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1.
The Raiders’ lone loss in that stretch? To Minshew and the Indianapolis Colts on New Year's Eve.
In two preseason games, he threw for 212 yards on 16-of-33 passing with a touchdown. The mobile Minshew also had 12 yards rushing on two attempts.
"His personality is infectious, his energy is infectious, his leadership is infectious," Pierce said of Minshew. "Things of improvement -- [his] footwork in the pocket, staying on script.
"There is some magic about him when he does break the pocket and does his thing, but there's a lot of times where if the first [or] second read is there, we've got to let it rip. So, he understands that. And more importantly, taking care of the football."
"I think we both put together a great body of work, played some great ball and left it up to Coach to make a hard decision," Minshew said after the Raiders’ lackluster 27-12 exhibition loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium.
“I’m super optimistic about what we’re going to be able to do as a team this year and just looking forward to this year, in general.”
After two preseason games and the team's entire offseason program, head coach Antonio Pierce said he would make the decision to name either journeyman Gardner Minshew, who they signed to a two-year, $25 million deal with $15 million guaranteed this offseason after playing five seasons with the Jaguars (2019-2020), Eagles (2021-20022) and Colts (2023), or 2023 fourth-round pick Aidan O'Connell as the Raiders' starting quarterback to begin the 2024 regular season.
"Yeah, we've seen enough reps," Pierce said postgame Saturday. "Two games, like we talked about. Our guys are not playing in the third preseason game, our starters, so we'll sleep on it and make a decision in the next couple days."
It came down to "experience." Everything we saw in practice, some it showed up in the games," Pierce said to the media about choosing Minshew over O'Connell.
"His [Minshew's] personality is infectious," Pierce said on Sunday. "His energy is infectious. His leadership is infectious. Things of improvement: footwork in the pocket, staying on script. There is some magic about him when he does break the pocket and does his thing, but there is a lot of times where the first or second read is there, we have to let it rip. He understands that. More importantly, taking care of the football"
"Gardner gives us the best opportunity to get off to a fast start," Pierce said.
Minshew started the contest and he played four drives, which resulted in a turnover on downs, a 29-yard made field goal, a punt and a turnover on downs. He threw for 95 yards on 10 of 21 passing.
O'Connell came off the bench in the second quarter, and he led four possessions. They resulted in a 27-yard field goal, a punt, a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Harrison Bryant (incompletion on the two-point conversion attempt) and a 69-yard interception return touchdown for the Cowboys.
The decision came down to more than just a few preseason games.
"I'm going all the way back to OTAs, minicamp, training camp, two preseason games. There's going to be a lot of factors obviously right?" Pierce said. "Command of the offense, the operational part. Efficiency. The turnovers are huge. That shows up. Taking care of the football is going to be important for our team. I think sitting there with [general manager Tom] Telesco and [offensive coordinator] Luke [Getsy] over the next couple days and just really pinpoint who is going to get us off to a fast start and get us where we want to be in that first quarter of the season."
It was thought O'Connell might have the upper hand given he was with the organization last season, but Pierce may be evaluating the situation with fresh eyes after an up-and-down 2023 that saw him become the interim head coach midseason after the firing of Josh McDaniels. Despite choosing Minshew to begin the season, he didn't rule out O'Connell starting at some point in 2024 or 2025.
"First and foremost, those two gentlemen are professionals," Pierce said. "The way they have handled this competition has really resonated throughout our building, our staff and our team. They have cheered each other on. They have been good teammates. They brought out the best versions of each other in practices and in the games. They both took it on the chin like a champ. I told them, 'Just both be ready.' We saw in the National Football League, you never know. Aidan is a young player that has tremendous upside that I think will be a starter at some point in this league if it's this year or next year. He will play in games. Gardner has done a good job of being that older presence because he has played a couple years in the league and been through some adversity. That's been good for Aidan."
Neither quarterback has made the decision easy for for Pierce. the end, it's Minshew getting the first crack.
