Raiders Trade for $212 Million Pro Bowl QB Floated by ESPN

The Raiders' biggest reason for hope right now is that their salary cap situation is very clean. The team is set to have a lot of money to play with over the next couple of years.

However, if they aren't planning to spend big on free agents, ESPN's Seth Walder has a creative way the Raiders can use that cap flexibility. He pitched a trade for Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

"Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Hear me out. This is the Brock Osweiler trade on steroids," Walder wrote. "The Raiders currently have $103 million and $174 million in 2026 and 2027 cap space, respectively. What I would propose here is the Dolphins send a 2026 second-round pick and 2027 second-round pick along with Tagovailoa in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick. If that trade happened next week, Las Vegas would keep Tagovailoa through 2026 at a cost of roughly $70 million over that time, the vast majority fully guaranteed. It would get the Dolphins out of their tight cap situation so they can reset and rebuild, and it would be a more efficient use of resources for Las Vegas -- regardless of whether Tagovailoa ever takes the field for them or not."

Tagovailoa isn't a player that the Raiders would be eager to play, but two second-round picks would be very interesting. That would help the team fill some big needs. A trade like this is unlikely if Carroll continues being the head coach, but it's certainly a unique idea.