Raiders Leak Interest in Potential Blockbuster Trade for QB: Report

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Antonio Pierce & Tom Telesco of the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Las Vegas Raiders won too many games down the stretch of the 2023 NFL season and are now not in a great position to draft a quarterback. The team doesn’t pick until No. 13 in the first round, which likely puts them out of range for a top prospect.

The Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots hold the first three picks and all of them need quarterbacks. That makes trade up to the top three unlikely. However, that won’t stop them from potentially trading in the five to seven range, per Tashan Reed and Vic Tafur of The Athletic.

“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 March 4 column. “It may be unrealistic to swing a trade to move into the top three picks considering the Bears (pick No. 1), Commanders (No. 2) and New England Patriots (No. 3) need quarterbacks. Caleb Williams (USC), Daniels (LSU) and Drake Maye (North Carolina) are widely considered to be the top three quarterback prospects available.”

Potential options for trading up would be the Los Angeles Chargers (pick No. 5), New York Giants (No. 6) and Tennessee Titans (No. 7). It’s unlikely the Chargers would want to work with Las Vegas so the Giants and Titans would be the too most likely options. The problem for the Raiders is that picking at No. 6 or No. 7 likely puts them out of range for their preferred option.

Las Vegas Raiders ‘Love’ Jayden Daniels

One of the worst-kept secrets heading into this year’s draft is that the Raiders are eyeing former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, according to Tashan Reed and Vic Tafur.

“The Las Vegas Raiders love Jayden Daniels, we all know that,” Tafur and Reed wrote. “But if the Chicago Bears and/or Washington Commanders love the Heisman Trophy winner as well, it’s going to be impossible to move ahead of the top two teams in the draft to get him.”

Daniels has a longstanding relationship with Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, which Reed and Tafur detailed.

“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 — but there’s been chatter at the NFL combine that Daniels could go as high as the first pick in the draft,” Tafur and Reed wrote. “Perhaps there’s a window to trade up if the Bears and Commanders both take quarterbacks and the Patriots aren’t sold on whoever remains at pick No. 3, but that’s a difficult situation to project.”

Which QB Could Las Vegas Raiders Target?

The Raiders could be poised to at least attempt a trade-up to get Jayden Daniels but there are more realistic options. Perhaps the most realistic if the team trades up to No. 6 or No. 7 is former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

He’s been flying up draft boards and appears poised to be the fourth quarterback taken in the draft. If it’s not McCarthy for Las Vegas, they could wait until the second round to see if Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. slip but the Raiders appear ready to be aggressive to add a quarterback and waiting until the second round is risky.

Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd