Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden sounds like he’s very open to trading some first round picks in the upcoming draft.
Currently, the Raiders hold the fourth, 24th and 27th picks in the first round of the NFL draft in late April. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think they’d shop them around a bit, and it sounds like that’s exactly what they intend to do. (RELATED: Jon Gruden Sounds Very Impressed By Kyler Murray, Isn’t Worried About His Size)
Gruden said the following on The Game Plan podcast when discussing potentially trading some of their first round picks, according to ProFootballTalk Friday night:
I think so. I think there’s a lot of potential for trades, and I think that’s one of the things I’m excited about [with] Mike Mayock. What he brings to the table, he’s got great resources around the NFL. He’s been in every building. He’s on a first-name basis, everybody knows Mike, and I think he’s going to be on the phones quite a bit with the two picks you talked about. Who knows? We may move up with the No. 4 pick. We may move back with that pick. We’ll see how it all unfolds.
Given Gruden’s apparent love for Kyler Murray, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Raiders moved back a bit to draft the Oklahoma Sooners Heisman winner.
Murray likely won’t go in the top five if the Cardinals don’t take him first overall, and the only other teams in the top 10 with a desperate need for a QB are the Giants (6th) and Jaguars (7th). The Giants don’t seem interested in Murray, which means the Raiders could drop back a couple spots and still keep Murray in play.
Either way, I’d be shocked if the Raiders hang onto all three first round picks without making some moves. Gruden loves to be unpredictable, and not doing anything is about as predictable as it gets.
It should be fun to see what the Raiders dial up, but I think we need to really take a hard look at the possibility they draft Kyler Murray. I would love to see that young man play for Gruden and the Raiders. It’d be internet gold.