NFL Rumors: What a Raiders trade for Jayden Daniels might cost them

The Las Vegas Raiders have a QB crush. That crush is LSU's Jayden Daniels, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and a projected top-3 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. The only problem is that Las Vegas does not own a top-3 pick; the Raiders own the No. 13 pick, which falls well outside Daniels' expected draft range.

It's not difficult to pitch the solution — trade up. Las Vegas has a fairly balanced and talented roster, despite the many missteps of their prior management regime. Their next QB will have Davante Adams to throw to and a compelling defense to back them up.

That said, trading up is easier said than done. The Chicago Bears (No. 1), Washington Commanders (No. 2), and New England Patriots (No. 3) all have pressing needs at QB. The Bears are all but certainly going to select Caleb Williams with the first pick. From there, it's a coin toss as to whether Daniels ends up in D.C. or Foxboro. Or, a mystery team, such as the Raiders.

Most signs point toward Washington keeping the second pick, so the Raiders would most likely need to target New England and pray that Daniels falls past the Commanders and OC Kliff Kingsbury, who has a long history with mobile quarterbacks.

If Daniels does fall to No. 3 and the Raiders are motivated enough, there's a chance the Pats are willing to engage. There is a lot of baked-in uncertainty about Daniels' fit in New England, a cold-weather climate with a front office that is rumored to prefer Drake Maye, or maybe even J.J. McCarthy.

Las Vegas has explored trading up, per Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed of The Athletic. The Raiders' interest in Daniels stems from new head coach Antonio Reed, who once recruited Daniels to Arizona State.

"Pierce has a strong relationship with Daniels stemming from leading his recruitment as an assistant coach at Arizona State — Daniels played there from 2019 to 2021 before transferring to LSU in 2022 — but there’s been chatter at the NFL combine that Daniels could go as high as the first pick in the draft. Perhaps there’s a window to trade up if the Bears and Commanders both take quarterbacks and the Patriots aren’t sold on whoever remains at pick No. 3, but that’s a difficult situation to project"

It would require the perfect confluence of circumstances to even allow Vegas the opportunity to trade up, but where there's a will, there's a way. Antonio Pierce and new GM Tom Telesco are both eager to put their stamp on the franchise. Daniels' remarkable upside could make him the perfect face of the franchise.

How much would it cost Raiders to trade up and pick Jayden Daniels?

It's impossible to know the exact going price of the No. 3 overall pick. We saw the Carolina Panthers sell the farm to move up from No. 9 to No. 1 in last year's draft to select Alabama's Bryce Young. The No. 3 pick is inherently less valuable than No. 1, but one could make the case that Daniels is a better prospect than Young. There is a lot of strong opinions in favor of the top-3 QBs in this class.

The Panthers specifically included their first-round pick (No. 9) and second-round pick (No. 61), in addition to their 2024 first-round pick (now No. 1 overall) and 2025 second-round pick. Oh, and Pro Bowl WR D.J. Moore.

That is a truly ludicrous package in hindsight, but we'd probably be singing a different tune had Carolina drafted C.J. Stroud instead. It all comes down to how the prospect actually performs at the next level. No draft pick is a surefire starter, much less a surefire star. That risk is inherent to every draft trade, so the Raiders need to tread carefully.

In the end, let's say the Raiders would need to include the No. 13 pick, their second-round pick (No. 44 overall), and at least a future second-round pick to get New England on the phone. It all ultimately depends on how strongly the Patriots believe in Daniels, as well as how fervently other teams around the league want Daniels. Las Vegas surely wouldn't be the only trade suitor, which could conceivably drive up the price.

The fit is tremendous, and Daniels reuniting with Antonio Pierce to rebuild the Raiders franchise from the ashes could be a beautiful story. But, the logistics are hard, and any trade of that magnitude would carry far more risk for Las Vegas than for New England.