The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Las Vegas Raiders are looking for a quarterback. Albeit for many different reasons, but the latest reports might put both teams in a head to head race to sign the same man to have under center. This comes amid the possible retirement of Aaron Rodgers once the season ends.
According to Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton, both Raiders and Steelers could be looking to get Cardinals’ QB Kyler Murray on their roster. Pet Moton, this trade could involve “multiple future first-rounders.”
While the Steelers don’t have trouble now with Aaron Rodgers, the fact that Rodgers could very well be on the last year of his career might put Pittsburgh on the QB market. For the Raiders, they tried to upgrade their QB play with Geno Smith but his form has been incredibly underwhelming. Therefore, they could go and get a more polished -and younger- signal-caller in Murray.
Will Murray be an upgrade on the current situations?
For Pittsburgh, Murray would bring mobility and speed to the position. However, Rodgers’ ability to extend plays with pocket presence and his arm will be lost. Murray has a decent arm on him, and even if accurate, when compared to Rodgers, it would feel like a slight downgrade.
In the Raiders case, while Murray could use his legs to keep plays alive, the team must solve the offensive line issues first. Murray is an undersized quarterback, so if the Raiders let him get hit, he could easily suffer injuries or make mistakes for being under pressure.
Murray is an intriguing option
A former first overall pick, Murray’s raw talent is not in question. However, his injury history and his focus are arguably his biggest weaknesses. Murray is also small, but he has managed to escape his size issue with his mobility.
Right now, Murray is on IR with a foot injury, so that’s something worth monitoring as well. For both teams, it would mean a drastic change of pace and style on what they currently have.