HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders traded away Davante Adams last month and have lost four straight games, so obviously when it comes to Tuesday’s trade deadline, they are going to …
Sell, sell, sell!
Nah. That doesn’t really make sense. We’ll explain in a minute.
And the Raiders can’t be buyers. They’re easily the worst team in the AFC West behind the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers. Barring a miraculous turnaround, the Raiders won’t sniff the playoffs this season.
Which is why the Raiders should stand pat.
And, according to team sources, that’s exactly what they’re expected to do.
The Raiders don’t have many players who would garner significant draft capital in return and owner Mark Davis, general manager Tom Telesco and coach Antonio Pierce still don’t view this as a full-scale teardown despite their current struggles. There remains internal optimism that, if they nail next offseason, they could become a competitive team again as soon as 2025.
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That’s one reason defensive end Maxx Crosby is off the table when it comes to trade discussions. There are surely teams that will inquire about his availability and would be willing to offer a significant package to get a deal done, but they’ll all be stonewalled. While that hasn’t stopped rumors about Crosby’s potential availability from circulating, they’re unfounded.
“It’s not coming from any sources,” Davis said last month. “It’s just not happening.”
Left tackle Kolton Miller, receiver Jakobi Meyers, linebackers Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo, cornerbacks Jack Jones, Jakorian Bennett and Nate Hobbs and safety Tre’von Moehrig are other notable players in which teams theoretically could be interested. Unlike Crosby, they likely wouldn’t draw significant compensation, so it would make more sense to hold onto them for the future.
Many of those players are set to become free agents and could be re-signed. Same with injured pass rusher Malcolm Koonce and safety Marcus Epps. The defensive players that are brought back would flank Crosby and defensive tackle Christian Wilkins on a team that would have some interesting potential.
All the Raiders would need is an upgrade at quarterback.
Sound familiar?
Let’s break it all down:
The Raiders are in position to make some noise this upcoming offseason. They have about $34.5 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap, and they plan to roll over most of that to their 2025 cap sheet, according to team sources.
The NFL hasn’t set a salary cap for 2025 yet — that’ll happen in the offseason — but the Raiders are guaranteed to have a ton of cap space. Over the Cap’s projection is they’ll have over $108.1 million in cap space.
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That money can be used to facilitate trades and free-agent acquisitions, of course, but the Raiders also will be looking to retain some of their talent set to test the free-agent market. Although they’ve passed on giving out any in-season extensions, that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in bringing those players back.
The Raiders are set to have 16 players test unrestricted free agency. The most notable among that group are Koonce, Hobbs, Deablo, Spillane, Epps, defensive tackles John Jenkins and Adam Butler and running back Alexander Mattison. There are also restricted free agents worth mentioning, such as receiver DJ Turner, safety Isaiah Pola-Mao and guard Jordan Meredith.
It’s far too early to predict how free agency will play out, but there’s a world in which the Raiders retain productive players while injecting the roster with veteran talent ready to contribute immediately.
The Raiders are one of the youngest teams in the league. According to Spotrac, their average age is 26.0 years (seventh youngest in the NFL). They could use some more proven commodities.
During his 11-year tenure as the Chargers’ GM, Telesco tended to lean toward building the roster through the draft. The early returns from his first draft class with the Raiders have been promising. First-round pick Brock Bowers is already a star tight end, second-round pick Jackson Powers-Johnson has been solid as a starting guard and third-round pick DJ Glaze has been pretty good as the starting right tackle. The rest of the class hasn’t done anything of note yet, but it’s too early to knock them for that.
Gardner Minshew hasn’t been the answer at quarterback, and the primary focus of the 2025 offseason will be finding the QB of the future. (Stephen R. Sylvanie / Imagn Images)
The stakes are even higher for Telesco to produce similar results in the 2025 draft class. The reason? The Raiders likely need to leave it with their starting quarterback of the future.
Gardner Minshew II isn’t the answer, and second-year signal-caller Aidan O’Connell isn’t, either. While free agency is an option to add competition to the room, the list of players set to test the market in 2025 isn’t very enticing: Sam Darnold (Minnesota Vikings), Justin Fields (Pittsburgh Steelers), Jacoby Brissett (New England Patriots), Andy Dalton (Carolina Panthers), Joe Flacco (Indianapolis Colts), Russell Wilson (Steelers), Jameis Winston (Cleveland Browns), Marcus Mariota (Washington Commanders), Mac Jones (Jacksonville Jaguars), Drew Lock (New York Giants) and Ryan Tannehill (semiretired spearfisherman). Darnold has been the best of that bunch this season, but it’s hard to envision the Vikings letting him walk.
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That leaves the draft as the Raiders’ most alluring option to land a quarterback. They could be bad enough this season to be in range to draft one — they currently hold the No. 7 pick — but they should be willing to trade up if need be.
The Raiders won’t escape mediocrity until they have a quarterback solution.
And the chance to find that next offseason is why the Raiders will stand pat and not make any major trades on Tuesday.
(Top photo of Maxx Crosby: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
