The Las Vegas Raiders have been in the trade rumor mill over the last few days after an anonymous NFL executive predicted that the Silver and Black would make a trade for Baltimore Ravens‘ Lamar Jackson.
On Jan. 20, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler published an NFL executive predictions piece, including one from an NFL personnel evaluator predicting the Raiders trading for Jackson.
“It just seems like there’s been some consternation there with Lamar and the Ravens, and this would be the ultimate Mark Davis move,” an NFL personnel evaluator said. “I’m not even convinced everybody with Vegas would be on board with it but it would instantly solve their quarterback problems.”
As a result, there’s been speculation regarding this information. FS1’s Nick Wright is the latest person to use that report and float a potential trade idea involving Maxx Crosby and Fernando Mendoza, who is likely to go No. 1 overall. While Wright notes that it wouldn’t make sense from a Raiders perspective, it would for the Ravens.
“I don’t know that I think the Raiders after watching them and believing in them this year, are close enough to make a move even for Lamar Jackson,” Wright said on the Jan. 22 edition of “What’s Wright? With Nick Wright.” “However, I am more interested in this from the Ravens side of it… What is a better path to winning a championship?
“Young quarterback on a rookie scale plus Maxx Crosby plus the extra $40‑some million dollars of cap space to build out the rest of the roster or Lamar Jackson who will enter next year undoubtedly as the highest‑paid player in the league… It is worth noting the two Super Bowls the Ravens have won, they won with cheap quarterbacks and stacked rosters.”
Ravens Won’t Be Shipping Out Lamar Jackson
Despite this prediction from an NFL executive who’s plugged into the league, ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark doesn’t see the Ravens trading Jackson, who is in need of a new contract.
“Lamar Jackson has been Lamar Jackson no matter who the coach is,” Clark said on the Jan. 23 edition of “First Take.” “The reason that John Harbaugh is gone is [that] everyone realizes Lamar Jackson’s greatness, his skill, his talent, even his ability to lead and galvanize players in the way people gravitate toward him.
“But they were like, Wait, you can’t win the Championship with Lamar Jackson. You keep falling short with Lamar Jackson… Lamar Jackson ain’t going nowhere. If this team doesn’t play well in the next two years, they’ll get another head coach as long as Lamar Jackson is healthy and he can be himself.”
Lamar Jackson to Las Vegas Wouldn’t Be Ideal for Raiders
Jackson is arguably one of the better QBs in the NFL and a franchise player. However, any potential move for Jackson would likely involve the No. 1 pick, and former Raiders offensive lineman Lincoln Kennedy said there’s no way he’d trade the top selection for the Ravens star.
“It’s hell to the nah,“ Kennedy said on the Jan. 20 edition of the “Locked On Raiders“ podcast . “The thing is that I’ve seen some good times out of Lamar Jackson, but I think he’s taken some hellacious hits over his career… I’ve seen Lamar Jackson take some hits, and I do think he’s past his prime in the sense [that] if you’re going to make a trade for him of this magnitude, you’re not going to get what you want on the other end.”
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