Gary Landers/Associated Press
After accruing extra draft capital this year, which includes owning three 2019 first-round selections, Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden isn’t ruling out making trades involving some of those picks.
Appearing on The Game Plan podcast (h/t NFL.com’s Grant Gordon), Gruden explained why the Raiders would be open to deals during the 2019 NFL draft:
“I think there’s a lot of potential for trades. I think that’s one of the things I’m really excited about. [New Raiders general manager] 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 gonna be on the phones quite a bit, not only with those 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.”
The Raiders are set up as well as any team to make a big splash in this year’s draft. In addition to their own pick at No. 4, they received the No. 24 and 27 picks from the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys as a result of the Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper trades.
Per Dan Parr of NFL.com, Oakland’s three biggest needs are on defense at edge-rusher, defensive back and linebacker.
Despite a difficult 4-12 record in Gruden’s first season back, this draft could be set up nicely for the Raiders to turn things around quickly. New general manager Mike Mayock has an extensive player-evaluation resume, including for the NFL Network.
B/R’s Matt Miller has six defensive linemen, including edge-rushers Nick Bosa and Josh Allen, ranked in the top 10 on his most recent big board. There are also two linebackers and four cornerbacks ranked as first-round prospects.
The Raiders will join the rest of the NFL in Indianapolis next week for the annual scouting combine. The 2019 NFL draft takes place from April 25-27 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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