Raiders’ Former 4th-Rounder a Likely Trade Target: “Writing is on the Wall”

The Raiders weren’t able to trade Maxx Crosby at the start of the new league year, but could a deal be coming for Aidan O’Connell?

Now that Crosby is perceived to be off the market (even though he isn’t), former Raider great Lincoln Kennedy believes the newest trade target on the roster is O’Connell.

“And as far as a player… that I think has the utmost trade value. It’s got to be Aidan O’Connell,” Kennedy said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show podcast.

“I think the writing is on the wall with what the Raiders did and… I believe Aidan O’Connell can play in the National Football League. He might be a backup forever, but we’ve seen how so many of these backups have gotten burned… but as far as trade value goes, if I’m trading a pick and a player, it’s going to be that one.”

As far as the timing of a potential trade involving O’Connell, Kennedy’s co-host believes the Raiders might be smart to wait until a team gets desperate before they part ways with O’Connell.

“If there’s a chance that maybe they hold on to him to get through training camp, there could be an injury to a quarterback, [and the Raiders] could hold on to him even to the trade deadline,” Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers added on the O’Connell conversation.

“The Colts went in and brought in Philip Rivers, brought him out of retirement last year because they got desperate when Daniel Jones went down. I’m not saying that Aidan O’Connell is Philip Rivers, but he might be a really good insurance policy as well, just to go ahead and hold on to for a little while, just to see how everything plays out. If there’s a team that calls for him on trade on draft day, then maybe you go ahead and make a move then.”

“If you’re not getting a kind of offer that you’re looking at, you might want to just hold on to them, get through training camp, maybe get towards the trade deadline and see if there’s a team out there that may have suffered an injury or may decide that’s the guy we need… and maybe get a little bit more. It’s really like a chess match, but it does feel like the writing is on the wall for Aidan O’Connell for sure.”

Going into the 2026 season, O’Connell has a $3.8 million cap hit, according to Spotrac, and will be a free agent after the season.

With Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins in the quarterback room, the Raiders might not see the need to have a third quarterback on the roster going into the season, but another veteran presence for Mendoza to learn from would hurt, either.

Based on comments from NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah last week, the Raiders haven’t just made up their mind on Mendoza… they already have him learning the playbook. It’s one of the perks to owning the no. 1 pick and knowing the player they are taking with the first pick.

“Fernando Mendoza is working with Brian Griese right now and it’s not so much that they are working on foot work, they’re installing the Raiders offense,” Jeremiah said on the Pat McAfee Show.

“He’s full speed ahead,” Jeremiah continued. “This is the same thing that happened with [Joe] Burrow where you can use this time to really try and learn a lot of the core verbiage and concepts along with an offense. I’d be shocked, stunned, astonished if he’s not the first overall pick. I don’t see that going any other direction.”

x: @raidersbeat

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