Ashton Jeanty has been the popular projection to the Raiders with the no. 6 pick in the draft, but it’s no secret that the decision makers in Las Vegas are open to trading down.
It’s not going to be the easiest year to trade down in the first round, but there have been three teams linked to a trade up (potentially with the Raiders) in some capacity.
The three teams are the Broncos, Bears and Eagles and here’s what league insiders and analysts have been saying about those teams.
Denver trying to trade up for Ashton Jeanty?
The Broncos have no chance of getting Jeanty with the no. 20 pick in the draft, but multiple reports have indicated that Denver has been one of the most aggressive teams trying to trade up in the first round.
Yahoo and FOX Sports host Jason Fitz believes Sean Payton and the Broncos are trying to get within reach of Jeanty and it will be interesting to see if the Raiders would consider doing a deal with the Broncos knowing the most dynamic running back in the draft is most likely their target.
“There’s a reason that speculation now is running rampant that the Broncos are trying to move up. I think the Broncos are trying to move up to get into the Ashton Jeanty conversation,” Fitz said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate.
If the Raiders would consider a trade with an AFC West rival, the compensation would have to be massive.
Chicago trying to find a way to get to Jeanty, as well?
Chicago has probably been the team linked to trading up for Jeanty the most and ESPN’s Adam Schefter added a little fuel to that narrative this week.
“There are multiple personnel people who believe the Bears are praying that Jeanty slips to them at No. 10,” Schefter reported on Monday. “They think new Bears coach Ben Johnson could feature Jeanty and D’Andre Swift as a two-headed duo the way the Lions did with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs when Johnson was Detroit’s offensive coordinator.”
In the one and only mock draft you’ll find on here, the Raiders traded the no. 6 pick to the Bears and that’s feeling like a more realistic scenario every day.
Philadelphia considering an aggressive move to the top of the draft?
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter believes the Eagles are a team that might be willing to pay a steep price to move to the top of the draft.
“It’s already been reported all over, but I’m hearing it, too, about [the Eagles] because there’s not going to be a lot of teams wanting to move up. There are more teams wanting to move down than teams that want to move up. That can make the price cheaper,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“If that’s the case, there are several players [the Eagles] like. They’re more than willing to give up picks because they don’t have a lot of holes, but two names, and I’m told there’s four, but I’ve not been able to find out who the other two are. But I’m told Philly really likes Jalon Walker and Abdul Carter. They’re not moving to one or even probably two, but they would potentially move up to get Abdul or Jalon and maybe even pay more than most teams because they don’t really need those picks. Just keep that in the back of your hat.”
In theory, the Raiders have no business moving back to the Eagles’ pick 32, but the 32nd pick could have real value with teams potentially wanting to move back into the first round to take a quarterback.
The Raiders aren’t just a player or two away from making a run at the Super Bowl, so if Tom Brady and John Spytek are focused on the future, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to collect as many first, second and third round picks in this year’s draft as possible.
x: @raidersbeat
Trade back, pick up multiple picks for this year and next. The roster is terrible after the last 7 years of gutting. Pete can try to spin it all he wants but this is a rebuild not a retool. There was only one HC candidate that could’ve made the upcoming season possibly better and that guy is in Chicago.