Report: Washington “Extremely Interested” In Marcus Mariota

Michael Lombardi said earlier this week that Washington is “extremely interested” in Raiders backup QB Marcus Mariota.

“I know there’s one team in the NFC East, the Washington Football Team, that’s extremely interested in Mariota,” Lombardi said. 

Lombardi explains that Mariota’s contract includes enough incentives where he would end up costing a team who brings him to start over $20 million for the 2021 season.

With this in mind, Lombardi believes any team to trade for Mariota would have to rework his contract to pay him a more reasonable salary in 2020.

Washington was reportedly in the mix to trade Matthew Stafford before the Lions sent him to the Rams and recent reports have said they’ve expressed some interest in Jets QB Sam Darnold. 

As of now, Washington has Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke and Steven Montez on their roster at quarterback. 

Last we heard regarding Mariota, Ian Rapoport reports that he is generating “legitimate and real” trade interest in recent weeks.

Rapoport explains that Mariota’s late-season performance in relief of Derek Carr caught some team’s eye and could be viewed as a similar buy-low player at the quarterback position as Ryan Tannehill was for the Titans a few years ago.

It is interesting that teams may be making this comparison, considering that Tannehill ultimately took Mariota’s job. However, Mariota could be seen as a more reasonably priced quarterback for teams in the market.Mariota, 27, is a former No. 2 overall pick of the Titans back in 2015.  He signed a four-year, $24.214 million rookie contract that’s fully guaranteed.

The Titans picked up Mariota’s fifth-year option worth $20.922 million for the 2019 season. They declined to re-sign him as an unrestricted free agent after he lost the starting job, though, and he ultimately agreed to a two-year contract with the Raiders worth $17.6 million. 

In 2020, Mariota appeared in one game for the Raiders and completed 17 of 28 passing attempts (60.7 percent) for 226 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed nine times for 88 yards and a touchdown. 

We’ll have more regarding Mariota as the news is available.