The NFL trade deadline has passed and all’s quiet in Raiders Henderson facility. No players incoming and no players outgoing. Basically the lack of movement was hinted at by Jon Gruden last week when asked about the possibility of trades being made at the deadline.
“Well we have to look at it realistically, honestly. I’m not going to get into our position. That’s really for [General Manager] Mike Mayock and I and our organization to talk about. We’re always looking for ways to get better. There’s a lot of speculation out there, but reality and speculation are two different things. We’re going to continue, like I said, to develop our players. I’m not saying a trade is out of the question, but some of the trades I’ve
seen thrown out there are a bit unrealistic.”
In each of Gruden’s first two seasons on the job, he made a big trade ahead of the deadline. Last season he sent cornerback Gareon Conley to the Texans for a third round pick. And in 2018, he sent wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Cowboys for a first round pick.
Both of those previous trades seem to have worked out ok. Landing a first round pick for Cooper was good value, especially considering he was up for a big payday and never played up to his potential with the Raiders. Conley was expendable because of the emergence of Trayvon Mullen who is now considered one of the Raiders top defenders.
Sitting at 4-3, Gruden and the Raiders are in somewhat of a better position than they were in the previous two years. But more importantly, they just don’t have a lot of cap space to take on a big contract. As Gruden said last week “We are where we are.”
