Raiders News: Las Vegas Signs Ex-Falcons QB Desmond Ridder

Quarterback is the most important position in football, and the Las Vegas Raiders have struggled there so far. There was hope that changing from Gardner Minshew to Aidan O’Connell would help things, but O’Connell’s return as the starter didn’t make it through two full games.

In the second drive of the Raiders’ contest against the Los Angeles Rams, O’Connell suffered a fractured thumb after his hand collided with the helmet of a Rams defenders. The Raiders placed him on injured reserve, but without another quarterback on the roster, the team had to make a move.

And they have done that, signing former Atlanta Falcons starter Desmond Ridder, who was on the Arizona Cardinals practice squad, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN:

The Las Vegas Raiders have signed quarterback Desmond Ridder, a former third-round draft pick, off the Arizona Cardinals practice squad, the team announced on Tuesday.

Ridder, who had an 8-9 record in 19 career games with the Atlanta Falcons, joins the Raiders after starter Aidan O’Connell broke the thumb on his right (passing) hand in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss at the Los Angeles Rams.

Ridder had an 8-9 record as Falcons starter, completing 64% of his passes for 3,544 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has also rushed for another 257 yards and five touchdowns.

Bringing in another quarterback was an absolute necessity for the Raiders following O’Connell’s injury and Ridder does have some dual-threat potential while having a decent amount of starting experience. The question for him remains how good he is as a passer and averaging under 200 yards passing per game with nearly the same amount of touchdowns as interceptions is a concern.

Minshew will remain the Raiders starter for the time being, but his turnover issues have been a problem this season, and if he can’t get that under control, Ridder could get an opportunity to revive his career with the Silver and Black.

Tom Brady Unanimously Approved as Raiders Part-Owner

Speaking of quarterbacks, the Raiders finally have the greatest ever inside the organization, but it is at an ownership level as NFL owners officially approved Tom Brady to be part-owner of the franchise.

This process took more than a year to finalize and involved some changes having to be made in the original proposal, but both sides did what was necessary to make this happen, and Brady released a statement saying he would honor the tradition of the Raiders and is committed to getting this franchise back to its winning ways.