Are The Oakland Raiders In The Marcus Mariota Mix After All?
By Kevin Saito
Just when you thought all of the seemingly ridiculous Oakland Raiders and Marcus Mariota talk was over and done with – it’s baaaaaack.
Sort of. Leave it to Chip Kelly to give us all an added layer of suspense and intrigue in the run up to the 2015 NFL Draft.
While the Raiders are perfectly happy with second year QB Derek Carr, and have no plans to ship him out and find a replacement anytime soon, the team is once again in the middle of the Marcus Mariota speculation. Albeit in a different fashion, this time.
Rather than the Raiders dumping Carr and going after Mariota with the fourth overall pick in the forthcoming NFL Draft – an absurd position taken by armchair GM and noted knucklehead John McTigue – the latest rumors strongly suggest that Oakland is in play to be a trade partner who can help facilitate a trade for the former Oregon quarterback – and enrich themselves mightily in the process.
In a recent radio interview with 95.7 The Fanatic in Philadelphia, longtime NFL insider Adam Schefter said that Eagles’ HC Chip Kelly, long known to have been coveting Mariota, is attempting to engineer a complicated deal that would land him the QB he recruited to Oregon.
"“Count me in the camp that does consider that an option and a possibility. And I was not in that camp a month ago, but I’ve come over to that side.”"
And it’s an idea that seems to be gaining some steam as various other “insiders” are reporting on the same rumors and speculation. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports recently penned a column in which he explored the possibility of a trade being engineered. In it, he said:
"“He coached Mariota. He loves Mariota. He’s willing to do whatever he thinks is best for his organization, conventional wisdom and consequences be damned. He simply doesn’t care. He’s capable of pretty much anything and his peers don’t believe for a minute he’ll watch someone else draft Mariota without a fight. No one will explore more options than Kelly, and if he pulls something huge off, few would be surprised. It would be more surprising if he just uses his picks as presently subscribed.”"
That’s all well and good for Kelly, the Eagles, and Mariota himself, but what does that have to do with the Raiders, you might be asking?
Plenty.
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According to a piece written by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, as Kelly tries to jump up inside the top five picks in the draft to have a shot at Mariota, he mentioned the Raiders as a possible trade partner in a crazy, somewhat complicated trade scenario.
In the scenario that Florio lays out, and multiple other insiders/talking heads seem to be buying in on, the Eagles, Raiders, and Cleveland Browns are going to join forces to pull off a major trade that could have a very large, very beneficial impact for all involved.
Let’s see if we can break it down. Kelly and the Eagles currently hold Sam Bradford – a QB the Browns coveted so much, they’d offered a first round pick to the Rams before the Bradford for Nick Foles trade was consummated. Presumably, the Browns still covet Bradford enough – even with the presence of both Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel – that they’d be willing to give up the first round picks that they’d originally tried to give to the Rams, to Kelly and the Eagles in exchange.
Dec 14, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly before the start of the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
But some might be saying, “wait, that trade would only get Kelly into the 12 spot though.” Which is correct, of course, but it would give him some very interesting pieces to work with.
Under Florio’s scenario, Kelly would then attempt to work a deal with a team inside the top five. For the sake of argument at this point, we’ll assume it’s the Raiders. Under the terms of this scenario, Kelly would send the Raiders the 12th and 19th picks they’d acquired from the Browns for Bradford. Plus, they’d get Philadelphia’s first round pick as well.
So let’s recap, because the bouncing ball may have been a little difficult to follow. The Browns get Sam Bradford – whom they love and have coveted. The Eagles get Marcus Mariota – whom Chip Kelly loves and covets nearly more than life itself. And the Raiders, in return for giving up the fourth overall pick in the draft, would get the 12th, 19th, and 20th picks in the first round.
Obviously, there are a few other details that would need to be hashed out, as there are a lot of moving parts to this possible scenario. But the possibility that Oakland could wind up with three picks in the first round of the draft is absolutely intriguing. It would it be an amazing haul, and it would be something that GM Reggie McKenzie would have to give some serious consideration to.
First and foremost though, for any deal like that to involve the Raiders, a few things would have to break the right way. And of course, there are zero guarantees of that happening. To make this deal even a possibility, the following things must happen first:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers must take Jameis Winston first overall. It’s been rumored seemingly forever. Though it seems like the Bucs snagging Winston, baggage and all, with the first overall pick is as close to a sure thing as you’re going to find.
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The second thing that needs to happen is that the Tennesee Titans will have to decide that Zach Mettenberger is the man, and bypass a quarterback. Recent rumors suggest that the Titans are indeed very high on Mettenberger, and may want to pair him with a young, playmaking receiver whom he can grow with – as well as providing him with an immediate impact weapon like Amari Cooper or Kevin White.
The third piece that has to fall into place is that the Jacksonville Jaguars, holding the third pick, and needing to beef up their defensive front, select USC’s Leonard Williams, as has been widely speculated on for quite some time.
If the dominoes do in fact fall that way, if Chip Kelly comes calling with this outlandish trade idea when the Raiders are on the clock, McKenzie and company are going to have a very interesting decision to make.
If the Raiders do trade down and move outside of the top ten, they will likely be losing out on elite talents like Williams, Cooper, White, Dante Fowler Jr., and Vic Beasley – all players who can step in on day one and make an immediate impact.
On the other side of that coin though, given that this draft is deep and rich with talented edge rushers and wide receivers – Oakland’s biggest needs, hands down – having three picks in the first round, would be an absolute gold mine. Oakland would be able to get first round talent at their biggest areas of need, and it very well could change the complexion of the entire season.
And though an earlier article spoke about the wisdom — or lack thereof — to trading down in the draft, if somebody is dangling an extra pair of first rounders in front of you, it’s something you’d absolutely have to consider.
Nothing of course, is guaranteed. This is all still rumor, speculation, and very interesting dot connecting at this point. But we do know for fact that Kelly covets Mariota more than anything else on this planet – and Mariota is the quarterback best suited to run Kelly’s up tempo offensive scheme.
In theory, this is a deal that could be a win-win-win scenario. The Browns get the QB they wanted. The Eagles get the QB they wanted without mortgaging the future. And the Raiders would get a lot of first round talent. If you’re a Raider fan – or a member of the Oakland front office – it doesn’t get much better than three picks in the first round, does it?
Kelly has been absolutely unpredictable this offseason. From dealing star running back LeSean McCoy, to letting star receiver Jeremy Maclin walk, to signing Tim Tebow, to cutting just about anybody and everybody connected to the Andy Reid regime, there has been no guessing what Kelly is going to do next. Trying to pull off a trade like this would almost seem par for the course at this point.
If McKenzie and the Raiders are approached by Kelly and offered this outlandish deal, McKenzie will have to think long and hard – and then do it anyway.