NFL free agency kicked off last Monday, and the No. 2 pick of the 2015 NFL Draft has a new home. After spending five years with the Tennessee Titans, reports broke last Monday that former Oregon quarterback and 2014 Heisman Winner Marcus Mariota had agreed to a deal with Las Vegas Raiders.
On Monday, new details emerged regarding the deal that Mariota inked with Las Vegas. According to NFL Network's Mike Garafalo, the Raiders signed Marcus Mariota a two-year, $17.6 million deal that includes $7.5 million in the first year as a fully-guaranteed base salary.
That the Raiders signed Mariota isn't exactly a surprise. Earlier in the month, Garafolo reported that the Las Vegas Raiders were looking to pair Mariota with current quarterback Derek Carr as a "1B veteran backup" rather than have to release Carr to sign a high-profile free agent among the likes of Tom Brady, who has since reached a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The idea that the Raiders would want to work with Mariota makes sense. Head coach Jon Gruden has previously spoken highly of Mariota, especially when the prospect was entering the NFL.
"I think he's very poised. I've seen him go through progressions; they run some common NFL route combinations [at Oregon]," Gruden said when Mariota was an NFL Draft prospect in 2015. "He's put a lot of points on the board, he's been asked to do a lot with pass protection. He learned the Oregon offense inside and out, and he'll learn your offense. It's just a matter of you teaching him, and surrounding him with a support system—good players, good contingency game-planning, and an opportunity to be great."
One of the biggest questions facing Mariota this offseason was if teams would sign the former Oregon quarterback to be a starter or backup for the 2020 season. With the Raiders, Mariota would be a backup to an incumbent starting quarterback but could push Carr for the starting job.
Former NFL executive Mike Tannenbaum thinks that Mariota can mesh with what the Raiders bring offensively. First off, Tannenbaum knows that the Raiders are looking for production and Mariota could bring that.
"When you look at their offense, they did a lot of good things but they couldn’t score points. They were under 20 points per game and they were 24th in the league," said Tannenbaum.
ESPN's Adam Schefter joined the network's NFL free agency special last week to discuss the news of Mariota coming to terms with the Las Vegas, predicting that Mariota would replicate what quarterback Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee en route to taking over as the starter.
"He’ll go in there and hope to do what Ryan Tannahill did in Tennessee," Schefter said. "Get a chance at some point in time, prove that he can play, revive his career and get a chance to prove that he is the man that people thought he was when (Tennessee) drafted him out of Oregon."