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The Las Vegas Raiders are primed to take Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft, but what their plan is behind Mendoza remains to be seen.
The Raiders traded Geno Smith to the New York Jets recently, which leaves them with Aidan O'Connell as their only backup option. That leaves the door open for Las Vegas to make another move to add to their quarterbacks room.
One option is former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco.
According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, there is interest on Las Vegas' part in bringing in the Super Bowl-winning quarterback as a bridge or backup option.
“Joe Flacco, who’s been around, has started a lot of games. He is available. He is weighing options right now,” Fowler said on SportsCenter.
“Speaking of Vegas, I’m told that that is an option for him, that they would have interest in potentially bringing him along, as a backup/bridge, if Fernando Mendoza needs to sit a little bit, assuming they draft him, which they will.”
The 41-year-old quarterback, who has proven he has some gas left in the tank in recent years, would be a perfect addition for Las Vegas no matter what route they decide to go with Mendoza.
If Mendoza isn't ready to start right away, Flacco would at least keep the Raiders competitive until the Indiana product is ready to roll.
But we would be surprised if Mendoza isn't the starter Week 1, as it's pretty rare in this day and age for a No. 1 pick to not be under center right away.
In that scenario, Flacco would offer a top-notch backup for Mendoza and could keep the Raiders afloat if the rookie gets hurt. Adding to that, Flacco would be a fantastic mentor for the young signal-caller.
The expectation has been that Flacco would return to Cincinnati if he couldn't find a starting job out there, but now that the Bengals have signed Josh Johnson, it's looking like a return to Cincinnati may not be in the cards for him.
As a result, Flacco is very much in play for Las Vegas and the Raiders should pull the trigger on signing him if the interest is mutual.
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