Ranking Players the Raiders Are Most Likely To Trade

Entering the season, it was clear the Raiders' roster still needed help at multiple positions. Their two most recent opponents confirmed the team's most significant remaining weaknesses. Whether or not the Raiders make a move before the deadline will largely depend on their playoff chances.

Likelihood of a Trade Happening

Their roster weaknesses make it fair to wonder if Las Vegas will make a move. Their front office did such a solid job filling out the roster this offseason that a trade seems unlikely, as they'd likely be unwilling to trade any of their young pieces. It also wouldn't make much sense for them to do so.

“In the NFL, there's always people working on your weaknesses at all times. So, the [New England] Patriots did a great job of exposing ours, and all I'm asking them to do is their jobs, and it's our jobs as coaches to get them prepared and put them in position to play successfully. So, they're young guys, they'll keep playing, and we count on them to play at a high level,” Kubiak said before Wednesday's practice.

Logically, their best, aging players on sizeable contracts are most likely to be traded before the deadline. On the other hand, every player who falls into that category for the Raiders is essential to their chances of winning games on Sundays, making the front office hesitant to move them, too.

The Raiders have no player they could trade who wouldn't significantly lower their chances of winning for the rest of the season, or who they just signed to a sizeable contract this offseason. In theory, trade possibilities are everywhere. In reality, possibilities vary for each team based on many factors.

For Las Vegas, the list of players they'd have to choose from is slim, and trading any of those players would essentially be waving the white flag on the 2026 season. Still, they have options, even if they don't have potential suitors. Below are the players Las Vegas is most likely to trade.

DE Maxx Crosby

While the trade rumors surrounding Crosby have been silenced, it is fair to believe that trading Crosby for anything less than two first-round draft picks is unlikely. It's also fair to believe that, at the moment, no team in the league is willing to trade those picks for him.

Still, Crosby is the Raiders' single-best player on the roster, with the biggest contract, and could fetch the most in return. It seems unlikely he will be traded right now, and although he is their biggest trade piece, another player on the roster might be bigger.

OL Kolton Miller

Miller is the team's third-highest player and would be the second-highest paid if not for Tyler Linderbaum's record-breaking contract. Mathematically, it makes more sense for the Raiders to get through the season with Miller and decide their future with the veteran from there.

That is true both mathematically and on the field; even though he has had a few struggles in his first five games back from an injury that sidelined him for most of last season, he is still by far the best left tackle on the team. The Raiders would be hard-pressed to find a better left tackle right now.

The trade deadline is about a month away. They will play four games between now and then. Three of those games will be against three of the league's best teams. If the Raiders lose all three, they will be either 3-6 or 4-5, depending on their road matchup against the New York Jets.

That gives Las Vegas' front office plenty of time to decide how viable a trade is and how much they want to focus on the rest of this season instead of the future. Neither Crosby nor Miller will be as valuable to another team as they are now, and trading one or both would save a ton of money.