As if the Antonio Brown insanity tour didn’t hurt the Raiders enough, it turns out the decision to trade for Brown probably cost the Raiders an opportunity at one of the best young wide receivers in the NFL.
According to The Athletic’s Vic Tafur, the Raiders were particularly impressed with former Ohio State wide receiver Terry McLaurin prior to the 2019 draft and would have taken him in the third round, but…
Via The Athletic:
“Every day at [Senior Bowl] practice that January in Mobile, Ala., the coaches giggled about what McLaurin did that day. He was not as highly thought of as Ohio State teammate Parris Campbell, but the Raiders (and other teams) thought he would be a third-round steal.
But Jon Gruden wanted a veteran star receiver, and the Raiders gave up their third-round pick (No. 66) and a fifth-rounder to the Steelers for the right to throw money at Brown.
The Raiders said goodbye to McLaurin that March day, as they didn’t have any picks between 40 (Trayvon Mullen) and 106 (Maxx Crosby). The Steelers selected receiver Diontae Johnson with that 66th pick and Washington took McLaurin at 76.”
The good news for the Raiders is they’ll still get to see McLaurin. He’ll be in a Washington Football Team uniform this weekend as the Raiders fight to keep their playoff hopes alive.
And for what it’s worth, the aforementioned Antonio Brown also found his way into the news this week.
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