5 teams who could get the Detroit Lions trade the No. 3 pick
By John Buhler
West. player. 28. Scouting Report. AFC. Las Vegas Raiders. 3. Pick Analysis
As with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Las Vegas Raiders have the draft capital to get the Lions to move off their No. 3 overall pick if they really want to make a deal. Even if they signed former Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota as a free agent, the Raiders are more likely than the Jaguars to draft a quarterback in the top 10 this spring. They might want Tua Tagovailoa.
To ensure that Tagovailoa dons the Silver and Black, the Raiders would need to move up to No. 3 to leapfrog the Miami Dolphins and the Los Angeles Chargers to do so. They’d also need to hope nobody puts together a sweet deal to pry the Washington Redskins off No. 2 either, though you know darn well Ron Rivera wants his version of Lawrence Taylor in Chase Young in this draft.
What makes the Raiders a suitable trade partner for the Lions is they have two picks in the top 20: Their own at No. 12 and the Chicago Bears’ at No. 19 from the Khalil Mack trade. Though two picks in the “teens” might not be enough to make the Lions move down nine spots for their first pick, the Raiders could sweeten the pot with Derek Carr or a second-round pick, this year’s or next.
The point is the Raiders cannot afford to pay five players first-round salaries in the 2019 and 2020 NFL Drafts combined. Moving up to get Tagovailoa helps ease that burden financially, as well as gives the Raiders a new face of the franchise. As for the Lions, they again load up on draft capital to help buy Patricia and Quinn some time to really turn this thing around if they are given it.