Losses sting, but a Monday night loss for the Las Vegas Raiders that featured an entirely inept offense stung worse than usual, prompting tough comments from key offensive weapons that felt like an indictment of the team's leadership.
Will that be enough to create an instant 180-degree turn on the Raiders' reluctance to trade someone like Davante Adams? Maybe not, but it surely prompts a few discussions in the front office about it, at the very least.
The timing of the Raiders' Week 8 loss to the Lions is crucial, too, coming with less than 24 hours before the Tuesday NFL trade deadline. If the Raiders want to make a move, they need to do it quickly.
These three trades could completely shock the league if the Raiders were to pull them off.
Trading Marcus Peters to the Bills
With Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson requesting a trade from the Bears, most will look toward the Buffalo Bills to get a deal done with Chicago to shore up their injured secondary. But what if the Bills look instead to the Raiders' ongoing dysfunction as an opportunity to buy a talented secondary piece for cheaper?
Vegas has a few fairly talented cornerbacks they could offer up to the Bills. One such piece Buffalo may be intrigued by is Marcus Peters, who has played for the Chiefs, Rams, Ravens, and is now in his first year with the Raiders.
Peters is a free agent after this year, so with Las Vegas tilting away from competition, it's difficult to see a ton of value in keeping him around for either the organization or the player. Peters isn't as good as Johnson, who has achieved a season-long 84.4 grade per Pro Football Focus, but might be good enough for what Buffalo needs considering the depth of their talented secondary.
Peters grades at 75.5, and has given up more touchdowns than Johnson. Bills fans won't want to see he was burned on one egregiously bad play by Calvin Austin where he pulled off a 72-yard touchdown:
Still, these mistakes are few and far between.
Peters would be an experienced upgrade over Taron Johnson and Christian Benford, the two players starting at CB for the Bills. Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde at safety can bail out a cornerback when necessary, too, possibly covering some of Peters' flaws.
Trade Josh Jacobs to the Baltimore Ravens
Josh Jacobs, based on his postgame comments, doesn't seem to want to be in Las Vegas playing for the Raiders. Heck, the star running back was nearly a season holdout early this year, and to some, it was a shock he has played games in Silver and Black.
Ultimately, the expectation is that Jacobs will stick around on the roster for the remainder of the year, but if the Raiders were to truly shock, a Jacobs trade would do the trick.
Why not send him off to the Baltimore Ravens, who are on the hunt for an RB? Currently, the Ravens roster Gus Edwards and Justice Hill, neither of which are premiere, RB1 caliber rushers. Arguably, Lamar Jackson is their true lead rusher while also playing quarterback. Jackson is sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per attempt. Edwards puts up 4.1 yards per rushing attempt, Hill 4.7. The league average is 4.13 per attempt, clearly, the Ravens could use more from their backfield.
With Jackson and Baltimore interested in opening up the passing game more this season, an established run game would do wonders to help make that happen. Jacobs could certainly help make it work.
At 3.1 yards per attempt this year, his stats on paper look worse than either option in Baltimore, but much of that seems reasonable to chalk up to system and dysfunction in Vegas. Jacobs is an All-Pro back and led the league in yards per game just last year. Todd Monken and Lamar Jackson would love to have that as a tool in the belt.
Trade Davante Adams to the Chiefs or another key contender
Look, let me preface this by saying I don't think the Raiders would actually trade Davante Adams to the Chiefs. Based on reports, moving Adams is unlikely to happen in the first place. It's even less likely he gets moved in a deal that assists a division rival.
But let's keep on topic... We're talking about moves that would shock the league, and this would certainly fit the bill.
To make it more tenable, though, I'll say that moving Adams to any competitor would be interesting. Imagining him on the Chiefs stepping in as an immediate WR1 the Chiefs have been searching for all season would be wild. Adams catching passes from Mahomes? Good luck...
But there are numerous options out there that Adams' restructured deal could fit within. These teams, barring other moves, could fit him in their cap sheet today:
- 49ers
- Browns
- Bengals
- Chargers
- Colts
- Packers
- Vikings
- Jets
- Cowboys
- Ravens
- Seahawks
- Jaguars
- Lions
- Saints
- Bills
Looking toward the future, Adams is owed upwards of $86 million over the next three years, so general managers may be leery over the long-term salary cap implications of trading for him.
Let's cherry-pick a few competitors, though.
The Bengals now have a healthy Joe Burrow. Ranked 23rd in yards per game, Adams plus Ja'Marr Chase in the same offense? Sheesh.
Adams wanted to play for the Raiders to play with Derek Carr. Now, Carr is in New Orleans. The Saints offense, despite talented receivers, has stagnated, and the Saints are looking to trade for receivers. Adams in there could give it the necessary jolt.
Though it may not get them to the playoffs, what about a Packers reunion? Jordan Love needs more talented pieces around him to stimulate his growth.
Really, any Adams destination would be a shock to the proverbial system that is the NFL, but sending him to a competitor or fringe competitor would really mix things up.
