If nothing else, the rumors surrounding this year’s trading deadline are more interesting than usual.
Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reports the Raiders are “trying hard” to acquire Carson Palmer. Cole’s source “highly doubts” Bengals owner Mike Brown would make a move, but perhaps the Raiders could make him think with a big offer.
We’ve assumed there is no chance Palmer will be traded, and that’s probably the case. Palmer called Brown last week without making Brown budge.
Still, there is a possibility Oakland could make a generous offer.
The Raiders are 4-2 and ready to make a run to the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. They just lost their starting quarterback, likely for the season. If any team was ever going to make an over-aggressive move including a first round pick, it’s Oakland in the next two days.
(The Raiders are already without second-, third-, and fourth-round picks in next year’s draft though.)
Other possibilities for the Raiders could include signing David Garrard or trying to trade for Kyle Orton. Both of those moves make more sense to us because the cost will be less.