The Las Vegas Raiders hold the No. 13 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and there has been much speculation about them trying to move up inside the top five. But could the Raiders go the other direction and trade down in Round 1?
In a recent article by Bill Barnwell of ESPN, he looked at all 32 picks in Round 1 and broke down whether each team should trade their pick. For the Raiders, Barnwell believes the Raiders should trade down to the 20s to pick up more draft capital. Here is a snippet of his thoughts on the Raiders and their pick at No. 13:
While the Raiders need an upgrade on Aidan O’Connell at quarterback, they’re also not a quarterback away from competing with the Chiefs. (Yes, they beat the Chiefs in December, but if you’re counting on getting two defensive touchdowns on consecutive plays to beat Patrick Mahomes every time out, that’s not going to go well.) Las Vegas also needs long-term answers along the offensive line, in the secondary and at running back.
That’s why it’s the perfect team to take a swing on a quarterback such as Michael Penix Jr. (Washington) early in Round 2 after moving down to add extra picks in Round 1. Given that the Raiders’ general manager is now Tom Telesco and I just mentioned he never traded down once during his time with the Chargers, well, I wouldn’t count on Vegas moving down in reality.
The Raiders don’t have a ton of needs, but they could use more picks inside the top 100. And if they are dead-set on drafting a quarterback early, moving down a few spots and taking Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix makes a lot of sense.
Plus, the depth in this class is excellent and there might not be a big difference in the caliber of player they get at No. 13 compared to No. 22, for example. If the Raiders want to move down and pick up an extra second-round pick, they should still be able to get a quality player in Round 1.
