The Raiders have the 10th overall pick in a draft that is loaded with quarterbacks, but they are more than set at that position with Derek Carr having signed a new five-year deal last year. That places them in a good spot to trade back, and it sounds like they are considering taking that approach.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says he was told by several teams that the Raiders will be a team to watch with draft trades over the next three weeks. Oakland is currently slated to pick ahead of teams like the Bills, Cardinals, Dolphins and Ravens — all of which could use help at the quarterback position. La Canfora also mentions the Patriots, who now have two first-round picks after trading Brandin Cooks.
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The two quarterbacks I’ve heard the most about in connection to the Pats are Baker Mayfield and Mason Rudolph, and while top 10 seems quite high for Rudolph, you can’t rule anything out when it comes to this position and the draft. Between Rudolph and Lamar Jackson, I remain convinced at least one of them is going in the top 15 picks, and possibly both of them. “I bet they’re both gone in the top 20 picks,” a top exec for an AFC club told me Monday morning.
So when you couple that with the Raiders’ recent shedding of veterans all over their roster and their considerable needs (particularly on defense), adding young, cheap draft picks makes sense, and the cream of this draft crop will be gone by 10 in all likelihood. But it could be a sweet spot to land the fifth QB off the board, which would be ideal for Jon Gruden in his first draft back at the helm of an NFL team.
We have already seen evidence of teams looking to move up to secure one of the QB prospects in this year’s class, so it would not be a surprise if the Raiders capitalize on that interest.
