New Las Vegas Raiders general manager Tom Telesco is about to take part in his first draft in that role. It could very well be a franchise-altering three-day event for Telesco and the Raiders new brass, head coach Antonio Pierce included.
Vegas finished the drama-filled 2023 season with a mere 8-9 record. It fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler eight games in. While Pierce did post a 5-4 record on an interim basis, there are a lot of questions in Sin City right now.
Primarily, the Raiders have to figure out what they’re going to do at quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo represented a failed experiment and was released after one season. Rookie mid-round pick Aidan O’Connell showed some promise. But he doesn’t seem to be the long-term solution. The same can be said for free-agent addition Gardner Minshew, who is more of a stop-gap option.
This has led to speculation that the Raiders will either draft a quarterback with the 13th selection in the 2024 NFL Draft or pull a trade up. With the draft now quickly approaching, we have more information on this.
Simply put, Vegas is doing everything possible to move up far enough for reigning Heisman winner Jayden Daniels from LSU.
“The Raiders would love to be able to get up high enough to take Daniels and reunite him with coach Antonio Pierce, who was on the Arizona State coaching staff back when Daniels began his college career there. But they know they might not be able to do that, especially if Washington has decided on him at No. 2.”
It’s true that Pierce was a member of the Arizona State staff when Daniels played for the Sun Devils before he transferred to LSU. It’s also true that this is a complete pipe dream. The Washington Commanders are completely locked in to Daniels with the second pick.
Related: 10 worst Las Vegas Raiders draft picks of all-time, including Jamarcus Russell
Las Vegas Raiders trade partners in the 2024 NFL Draft
If Washington is locked in on Daniels, the Raiders’ other immediate options are the New England Patriots at three and Arizona Cardinals at four.
Both have shown the willingness to trade down. As for New England, its asking price is said to be incredibly high. The team will likely go with North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye rather than moving down.
This puts Arizona in play with the fourth selection. The idea here for Vegas would be to draft former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The question here is rather obvious. Are the Raiders high enough on McCarthy to trade future first-round pick(s) for the reigning national champion?
If not, they might just be better off standing pat at 13 and going with Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. or a top-end player at another position.
