The NFL trade deadline is just over two weeks away and a handful of teams are likely to be selling off players for draft picks.
The Raiders have been looking at defensive linemen for a while and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they made a little trade splash on a D-lineman in the next couple weeks.
Let’s take a look at five players that could be intriguing trade options for the Raiders…
Quinnen Williams
Williams needs a change of scenery and the Raiders could use a player with his ability to disrupt in the middle of the defensive line. The Jets season is over, but how little can they justify taking for the third-overall pick from a year ago?
Is a second-round pick too much to offer?
Ryan Kerrigan
One of the most underrated players in the league throughout his career, Kerrigan is in the last year of his deal with the Football Team and has a cap number of 11.6 million.
Jon Gruden would know from his brother that Kerrigan, 31, exemplifies what it means to be a Gruden Grinder. If they can get the Football Team to eat some of his salary, the Raiders should jump on Kerrigan.
J.J. Watt
Watt can still play, but he has an extensive injury history and is 31 years old. The 1-5 Texans aren’t making the playoffs and can trade Watt’s $15.5 million contract without the consequence of any dead money.
The Raiders, of course, don’t have $15 million in salary cap room, but there are always ways around that.
Carlos Dunlap
He’s 31 years old and doesn’t have a sack this year, but the connection to Paul Guenther is there and Dunlap did have nine sacks last year. The Bengals aren’t going to the playoffs this year and there’s a youth movement going on in Cincinnati that might motivate the Bengals to move on from a couple veterans.
Low cost. Low risk. Potentially medium-high reward.
Yannick Ngakoue
Ngakoue makes the list only because the Vikings dumped a lot of draft capital into a season that is already in the tank. No one really thinks Minnesota should trade Ngakoue, but the Vikings are about to cap off a miserable season by paying a king’s ransom for a player that they just gave up a second-round pick to acquire.
Maybe, just maybe, the Vikings would think about recouping that second-round pick and avoid an offseason negotiation with Ngakoue where they will have exactly no leverage whatsoever.
What a disaster this year is turning into for the Vikings.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Quinenn Williams for a third round pick…he’s young and has major upside development. The rest are too old and risqué. Add Eric Reid and Mychal Kendricks to the defense along with Irving for the D-line. Imagine this: A defensive front with Crosby/Williams/Ferrell/Irving; with heavy rotation doses of Hurst/Hankins/Jones/Smith. Once we get the defense straight and all lined up…we are on the way to the Super Bowl.
Hopefully Gruden and Mayock will operate outside the safety low risk bubble. Let’s go Coach and GM…just win baby!
I like the Quinnen William’s and Yannick Ngakoue possibilities, not just for this year but the long term as well. I believe that every NFL player wants the possibility of making the playoffs and beyond. Surely this year’s edition of the Raiders offers both of these guys that chance, not to mention that both are very young in football terms.
The only player i would take a chance on Williams still young 2 years left in his contract and he might just need the Raiders Spark to be the player he was supposed to be, i mean have you seen the jets the last 2 season no life no nothing even if he wanted to be the best he can’t he is on the field most of the game so he might win 2 plays and loat 8 or 9
Williams estaría perfecto de hecho antes del draf el comento que quería jugar con raiders necesitamos gente qquw ame la camiseta este tipo de jugadores nos convienen tener en el equipo
Question is what do they do with the contracts of Nassib and Collins if they make a move like this? They’ll probably have to eat some cash. How much, is the question. Can they afford it is another question to ask.