At some point before the start of next year, the Raiders are expected to make an aggressive move for a wide receiver, but after a 2-0 start to the season, the odds of drafting Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith are starting to fade.
There will be less exciting wide receiver options a little later in the draft, but the Raiders might be more inclined to consider trade options for a wide receiver like Justin Jefferson.
A few months ago, Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said he believed Jefferson might eventually be on the Raiders’ radar, adding that he had heard Jefferson would be open to the idea of playing for Klint Kubiak again.
“I think you wait and let that Justin Jefferson thing pan out a little bit. Nothing’s imminent. I’m not saying anything is imminent. I just know that there’s a potential that he may want to move on and he had his best play with Klint [Kubiak],” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast in July.
“I think and may have reason to believe that he would be amicable if he were to be moved to be reunited… with Klint Kubiak.”
Would the Raiders consider Marvin Harrison Jr.?
Jefferson wouldn’t come cheap, of course, and it would presumably take a couple of first-round picks to pry him away from the Vikings.
If that’s not the kind of investment the Raiders want to make, it might make sense for them to look at Marvin Harrison Jr., who seems to be wasting away in Arizona.
Harrison was the no. 4 pick in the 2024 draft, but he hasn’t lived up to expectations with the Cardinals. Through two games this year, Harrison has just one reception and has only been targeted four times.
Trey McBride, Kendrick Bourne and Michael Wilson all have at least 10 targets this year in Arizona, and it’s fair to wonder if Harrison is a player the Cardinals would be willing to trade.
Somebody else’s problem?
On his podcast this week, Carpenter addressed the idea of the Raiders trading for Harrison and seemed to lean strongly against the idea.
“I think you stay the course,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“If you’re talking about getting Justin Jefferson, oh year, the whole game changes right there for me because he’s already proven. With Marvin Harrison you’re just getting somebody else’s problem… maybe it is a change of scenery [he needs], but you’ve got to get him cheap enough because you don’t know that. With multiple quarterbacks and coaches… I’m also talking based on some things I’ve heard from people that I trust.”
Carpenter didn’t elaborate on what he has heard about Harrison, but it sounds like there might be some contributing factors to the third-year wide receiver’s lack of success that might turn off the Raiders (and everyone else?) to the idea of giving up valuable draft picks to get him.
x: @raidersbeat
What did Hondo say again? Oh yeah nothing but his click bait nonsense