close
close

Le-verdict

News with a Local Lens

3 Las Vegas Raiders who should be on the trading block and their best landing spot
minsta

3 Las Vegas Raiders who should be on the trading block and their best landing spot

THE Las Vegas Raiders entered the season with cautious optimism. As a unit, they had talent. Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers appeared to be a solid wide receiver duo, and Brock Bowers entered the league with the chance to transcend the tight end position. Zamir White finished last year on a tear, so he was expected to be reliable this season as well.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. White has looked like a glorified full-back, leading to his replacement, Alexander Mattison, being elevated to the starting role. Bowers was better than expected, but Adams was traded to New York Jets as the Raiders began to blow up their roster.

With a complete rebuild on the horizon, the Raiders could look to sell more players this season by adding draft capital. But which Raiders could be next on the trading block – and where could they go?

The first thing we can look at when looking for players the Raiders could trade is players with expiring contracts. The reason is that the Raiders may not be very likely to draft these players in 2025, so trading them now for a 5th, 6th or 7th round pick would provide something to Las Vegas instead of losing the player for nothing .

One of the first players that comes to mind is linebacker Robert Spillane. Spillane is in the final year of his contract and he continues to be a very productive player in the NFL. He’s a downhill linebacker who plays the run as well as almost anyone in the league. He’s not going to wow you with his athleticism, but his tackling ability and motor skills make him a valuable addition.

A team that could use Spillane would be Houston Texans, who are looking to add to their roster at the trade deadline following some injuries. On defense, Houston is dealing with injuries to linebackers Henry To’oTo’o and Azeez Al-Shaair. Adding a linebacker like Spillane would provide them with a secure tackle and one of the best linebackers on the market.

It probably wouldn’t cost the Texans too much capital to acquire the expiring linebacker either.

The next player the Raiders might consider moving is another expiring contract, this one being safety Tre’Von Moehrig. The Raiders safety would be a fit for a ton of different NFL teams around the league.

Moehrig, 25, has looked really good in his short NFL career. In 57 games over four years, Moehrig had 245 tackles, two sacks, seven TFLs and six interceptions. He is only 25 years old and he has shown his ability to make impact plays.

The team that would be best suited for security would be the New York Jets. New York is still going all-in to try to win this year with Aaron Rodgers. They already have a deal in place with the Raiders to bring in Davante Adams, so they could definitely work together to make something else happen.

But the Raiders could consider re-signing Moehrig this offseason. He’s been a great player with great playmaking ability, so I wouldn’t blame them for wanting to bring him back. It would be a decent sized deal to bring him back though, so if the Raiders aren’t looking to re-sign him, trading him right now for a decent draft pick return would be the best idea for the franchise.

One of the most coveted positions at this trade deadline is wide receiver. The NFL has seen a ton of receivers go down with injuries, leading to teams selling their pass catchers to contending teams. We’ve already seen the Jets, Chiefs, Bills and others add wide receivers. But teams like Pittsburgh Steelers could still use a wide receiver before the trade deadline.

Pittsburgh has one of the worst overall groups of pass catchers in the NFL, although they look much improved with Russell Wilson at the helm. Still, the Steelers could look to add a wide receiver at the trade deadline, with Jakobi Meyers from the Raiders, which would make a lot of sense.

Meyers is not on an expiring contract, so the Steelers would also have him next year if they make a trade. This year, Meyers has 31 catches for 325 yards and two touchdowns. The 27-year-old receiver has three straight 800-yard seasons, which would be a huge improvement over Van Jefferson for Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh was in trade discussions for a ton of receivers this season, but they didn’t land any. They should add one before the deadline, and a deal for Meyers would make perfect sense for both sides.

LEAVE A RESPONSE

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *