BREAKING NEWS: Raiders Leak Interest in Potential Blockbuster Trade for QB…

The Las Vegas Raiders are currently in a poor position to select a quarterback because they won too many games in the latter half of the 2023 NFL season. The team is probably out of reach for a top prospect because they don’t pick until the thirteenth pick in the first round. With the first three picks, the Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders, and New England Patriots are all in need of quarterbacks. Trade up to the top three is therefore unlikely. However, according to Tashan Reed and Vic Tafur of The Athletic, that won’t stop them from perhaps trading in the five to seven range.

In a column published on March 4, Reed and Tafur stated, “The Raiders have been exploring trading up— and maybe not as high as you think, according to league and team sources.” With quarterbacks needed by the Bears (selection No. 1), Commanders (choose No. 2), and New England Patriots (pick No. 3), it might be impractical to pull off a deal to get into the top three picks. The consensus is that the top three quarterback prospects right now are Caleb Williams (USC), Daniels (LSU), and Drake Maye (North Carolina). “The Raiders have been exploring trading up— and maybe not as high as you think, according to league and team sources,” Reed and Tafur wrote in a story that was published on March 4. Reaching the first three picks may not be feasible given the Bears (first pick), Commanders (second pick), and New England Patriots (third pick) all require quarterbacks. There is general agreement that Caleb Williams (USC), Daniels (LSU), and Drake Maye (North Carolina) are the top three quarterback prospects at this time.

 

According to Tashan Reed and Vic Tafur, one of the worst-kept secrets leading up to this year’s draft is that the Raiders are interested in former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. Tafur and Reed wrote, “Jayden Daniels is loved by the Las Vegas Raiders, as we all know.” “But it will be impossible to get past the top two teams in the draft to get the Heisman Trophy winner if the Chicago Bears and/or Washington Commanders love him too.” Reed and Tafur described Daniels’ long-standing friendship with Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce.

“Though there has been talk at the NFL combine that Daniels could go as high as the first pick in the draft, Pierce has a strong relationship with Daniels stemming from leading his recruitment as an assistant coach at Arizona State — Daniels played there from 2019 to 2021 before transferring to LSU in 2022,” Tafur and Reed wrote. “If the Patriots aren’t sold on the player who is still at pick No. 3 and the Bears and Commanders both select quarterbacks, perhaps there is a window to trade up, but that’s a difficult situation to project.”

There are more practical choices, but the Raiders might be ready to try at least a trade-up to acquire Jayden Daniels. If the team trades up to No. 6 or No. 7, former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy might be the most feasible.
He seems certain to be the fourth quarterback selected in the draft since he has been shooting up the draft boards. If McCarthy isn’t selected by Las Vegas, they may wait until the second round to see if Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. fall to them, but doing so would be dangerous given that the Raiders seem prepared to be aggressive in their pursuit of a quarterback addition.