Raiders might trade up for Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert

The Las Vegas Raiders have the ammunition to trade up for either Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert in the 2020 NFL Draft, if they feel so inclined.

Could Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert be wearing Silver and Black?

The Las Vegas Raiders will play their first season in Southern Nevada this fall at brand-new Allegiant Stadium. This long-suffering AFC West franchise played in a dump in Oakland for decades, providing a mediocre brand of football for one of the most ravenous and passionate fanbases in the world. With a major franchise move, could they also make a move at quarterback?

The Raiders have a perennial Pro Bowler under center in Derek Carr. While he has brought stability to the position the Silver and Black haven’t seen since Rich Gannon, Carr hasn’t been the same player since he broke his ankle on Christmas Eve 2016. Carr is a solid quarterback, but the Raiders may want to look to upgrade the position with a blue-chip prospect coming out in the draft.

Tagovailoa won a national championship and finished as a Heisman Trophy runner-up during his three years in Tuscaloosa. The Hawaiian native is the most-talented quarterback in this draft, but injury concerns have knocked him out of being potentially the No. 1 overall pick this spring. That will be LSU Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow likely going to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Herbert won a Pac-12 Championship, a Rose Bowl and the Academic Heisman (William V. Campbell Trophy) during his senior season in Eugene. Though not as consistent of a passer as either Tagovailoa or Burrow, Herbert certainly has the look and feel of a franchise signal-caller. All three quarterbacks will be off the board by the No. 7 pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. You can book it.

So what are the Raiders to do?

Las Vegas has plenty of ammunition to move up into the top-five picks to select a star quarterback. The Raiders own selections 12 and 19, the latter coming from the Chicago Bears via the Khalil Mack trade. They also have three third-round picks in this spring’s draft.

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What this all comes down to is if head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock think Carr is a long-term solution at quarterback for the Raiders going forward. If they do, then they won’t need to trade up to get a quarterback like Tagovailoa or Herbert.

Should they grow increasingly lukewarm on Carr, the Raiders have the picks in place to strike.