Jon Gruden expects Raiders to be active with trading draft picks

Jon Gruden knows the Oakland Raiders have a lot of areas to improve on and is looking to be flexible over the offseason to address the holes.

Gruden joined JT the Brick on “The Game Plan” podcast on the Raiders Podcast Network to talk about the team’s offseason. In the interview, Gruden said he and GM Mike Mayock have been scouting free agents and preparing for the draft. One possibility Gruden mentioned for the draft was trading some of their multiple high picks, including the No. 4 overall selection.

“I think there’s a lot of potential for trades,” Gruden told JT, as transcribed by NBC Sports Bay Area. “That’s one of the things I’m really excited about (general manager) Mike Mayock and what he brings to the table. He has great resources around the NFL. He’s been in every building. He’s on the first-name basis with many because everybody knows Mike. I think he’s going to be on the phones quite a bit not only with (the Nos. 24 and 27 picks) but, who knows? We may move up from the No. 4 overall pick or we may move back from it. We’ll see how it all unfolds.”

Seeing the Raiders move up or down in the draft wouldn’t be a surprise. Not only do they have several picks available to make a move, but Gruden already showed a willingness to trade high picks as the team dealt their No. 10 pick last year to Arizona and moved down in the draft. How the Raiders perform in this draft will play a huge role in determining how well set up they are when they begin play in Las Vegas.