NFL Rumors: Insiders Expect Top 4 QBs to Be Drafted Before Raiders Pick at No. 7

The Las Vegas Raiders might not even be able to select their fourth-favorite quarterback in the 2023 NFL draft at No. 7.

Vic Tafur of The Athletic reported there is a growing consensus that C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis will all be gone within the first six picks of next month's draft.

There have never been four quarterbacks taken within the first six picks of an NFL draft. Even four quarterbacks being taken in the first 10 picks is a historical anomaly that's only happened once in the Super Bowl era, when Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen were all taken in the top 10 in 2018. Allen is the only one of those four still with the team that drafted him.

Stroud and Young are widely expected to be the first two picks in some order. The Carolina Panthers have been most heavily linked to Stroud, with DraftKings Sportsbook listing the Ohio State product as a -330 favorite. Young is a -300 favorite to be selected by the Houston Texans at No. 2.

The Arizona Cardinals are not expected to draft a signal-caller at No. 3, but the Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions could all take their quarterback of the future with the next three selections.

Las Vegas signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a three-year, $72.8 million contract this offseason, but there is a legitimate chance he's used as a one-year gap solution. The Raiders could get out of Garoppolo's contract next offseason if they're willing to take an $18.8 million dead cap charge, per Spotrac. That would likely only happen if Vegas drafted a quarterback of the future it was confident could perform better than Garoppolo in 2024.

Richardson and Levis are both considered long-term projects rather than Week 1 starters. Garoppolo proved to be a willing and capable mentor for Trey Lance and Brock Purdy in San Francisco and could wind up filling a similar role if one of the two projects winds up available at No. 7.