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Raiders Blockbuster Trade Pitch Nets Team No. 2 Pick, Travis Hunter for Draft Haul

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Dible | Last updated Mar 31, 2025 5:07 PM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders traded a third-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for quarterback Geno Smith, but there's no guarantee that was the end of their offseason dealings.

Las Vegas needed an upgrade over Gardner Minshew, who is no longer with the team, and Aidan O'Connell, who remains on the roster as March gives way to April. The Raiders don't pick until No. 6 in the upcoming NFL draft and that, combined with the acquisition of Smith, has taken the franchise out of most of the conversations involving first-round QBs. But Bill Barnwell of ESPN suggested Monday, March 31, that it shouldn't remove Las Vegas from the discussion of teams potentially moving up for another kind of player.

Barnwell authored a trade proposal in which the Raiders send the 6th pick, 37th pick, a fourth-rounder in 2026 and tight end Michael Mayer to the Cleveland Browns for the No. 2 overall selection in this year's draft and a conditional fifth-rounder.

"For the Raiders, this is their chance to add a transcendent player. Travis Hunter is probably not making it to No. 6, and new coach Pete Carroll -- a legendary defensive backs coach -- has been know to defy positional value if there's a player he really loves in the secondary," Barnwell wrote. "Hunter would be an immediate hit at cornerback, and I'm sure Carroll would have few qualms about putting Hunter at wide receiver as well."

The hypothetical move assumes that the Browns are okay passing on quarterback Shedeur Sanders, Hunter's teammate at Colorado, with the second selection.

Where Sanders ultimately falls is one of the lynchpins of this year's first round and could impact the draft positions of Hunter, Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter and potentially a handful of other top-10 picks should Sanders slip beyond Cleveland at No. 2 (or the Raiders, in Barnwell's scenario) and the New York Giants at No. 3.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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