ESPN’s Adam Schefter has long been considered one of the top NFL insiders in the industry. His information is almost always reliable and he has shown a unique ability over the years to remain objective and stay out of the mud with his counterparts in the industry.
But for reasons unknown, Schefter went outside of character on Wednesday and went all-in on the Raiders, making strong accusations against the team and former GM Tom Telesco.
After putting the organization on blast for the better portion of a segment, Schefter made a particularly strong assertion against Telesco.
According to Schefter, the Raiders never made a call to the Washington Commanders about trading for the no. 2 pick and the opportunity to draft LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels in 2024.
“Jayden Daniels is one of these generational quarterbacks. You’re not finding that guy in the draft this year, and you don’t even have the draft pick to do it,” Schefter said about the Raiders on the Adam Schefter Podcast.
“By the way, that’s why last year, it’s why the Raiders had such an interest in trying to see if they could trade for Jayden Daniels,” Schefter continued. “But by the way, matter of fact, they never made the call at all. They never even tried to get that trade done. A lot of speculation about it. More in the media than within the teams themselves. The Raiders never called about Jayden Daniels.”
Prior to Schefter’s report there were a number of accounts insinuating the Raiders would have given up three first-round picks to get Daniels.
The Commanders reportedly made it clear to everyone interested in the no. 2 pick that they weren’t going to trade, and no one has suggested the Raiders didn’t reach out to the Commanders until now.
It’s possible that Schefter was saying the Raiders never physically picked up the phone and had a conversation, but framing a report in that context would typically be well beneath him. Obviously, there are more ways to communicate in modern society than picking up a rotary phone and hoping someone picks up on the other end.
Whatever the angle was on Schefter’s end, his report is under fire in Vegas.
“Not true. We’ve reported all year that Raiders tried and were told Washington wasn’t dealing. That was and is accurate,” The Athletic’s Vic Tafur posted on X about Schefter’s report.
On the same platform, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore called Schefter’s report “ridiculous” and “100 percent not true.”
Telesco was fired by the Raiders a week ago and at some point it would be interesting to hear his account of how the team went about trying to trade for Daniels and what was communicated to him by the Commanders.
Looking back at Schefter’s report, it was strange that he acknowledged the Raiders had “such an interest” in Daniels, but followed it up by suggesting they never tried to trade for him.
That’s an accusation of incredible ineptitude.
Additionally, Schefter said the Raiders don’t have the draft pick at no. 6 to get a top quarterback in this year’s draft. Well if they don’t have the pick at no. 6 to get a top quarterback in this year’s draft, how in the world were they supposed to get Daniels with the no. 13 pick a year ago?
There have been plenty of coaches and executives that have contributed to the Raiders’ demise in recent years, but Telesco’s 11 months with the team will hardly reflect poorly on his resume.
It was Telesco who drafted a first-team All Pro with the 13th pick in the 2024 draft and added starting offensive linemen with each of his next two picks.
Telesco made decisions he might like to have back, but not making enough effort to trade for Jayden Daniels almost certainly isn’t one of them.
x: @raidersbeat