What the Las Vegas Raiders will do to address their quarterback position continues to be one of the biggest questions for the franchise this offseason. One name that has come up pretty regularly recently is LSU star and Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
Daniels has been linked to the Raiders not only because of his talent but also due to his connection with Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, who was on the staff at Arizona State, where Daniels’ college career began. But with the Raiders having the 13th overall pick, the team would have to make a deal to move up in the NFL Draft if they really wanted to bring Daniels in.
And that could potentially be on the horizon as a potential trade to move up in the draft to take Daniels is reportedly on the Raiders’ radar, via Joseph Zucker of Bleacher Report:
The Las Vegas Raiders “could be a mover and a shaker around draft time” because head coach Antonio Pierce is high on LSU star Jayden Daniels, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Pierce was on the Arizona State staff when the Sun Devils recruited Daniels to Tempe out of high school.
“That’s a connection. Is it strong enough to move up from 13 overall to three overall to New England’s spot?” Fowler said Sunday on SportsCenter. “That would be tough, but I think it’s on the radar at least.”
It would take a lot for the Raiders to move from 13 into the top 3 in the NFL Draft, but if they believe Daniels is the franchise quarterback that this team has been looking for, then it is a price they should be willing to pay.
Daniels was absolutely unreal for the Tigers last season, completing 72.2% of his passes for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns with just four interceptions. But Daniels is also a dual threat, adding another 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
In this league, you have to have a quarterback to win, and the Raiders are in a division with Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert, so they need to keep up. The franchise will continue to explore all possible options, but if Daniels is the guy and they believe that, they must be willing to pay the price to go get him.
Raiders interested in trading for Justin Fields?
Of course, there are other routes the team could go, one of which is a trade, and a name that could potentially be on the market is Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
A recent report named the Raiders as a team that had genuine interest in trading for Fields and there is a connection as the franchise hired former Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to that position in Las Vegas.
There have also been rumors that the Bears plan on keeping Fields so perhaps this is no longer a possibility, but Fields would give the Raiders a dynamic quarterback who has proven he can make plays at the NFL level.
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