The Oakland Raiders are the only team without a first-round pick in tonight’s NFL draft. They’re hoping to change that today.
Vittorio Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Raiders are trying to trade back into the first round today. Raiders owner Al Davis has had a first round pick every year since 1989, and he doesn’t want to be without a first-round pick this year just because he sent the Raiders’ first rounder (17th overall) to the Patriots for Richard Seymour.
The last time the Raiders entered a draft without a first-round pick was in 2005, when they had sent their first-rounder to Minnesota for Randy Moss. That year they ended up trading back into the first round, getting the Seahawks’ 23rd overall pick, and selecting cornerback Fabian Washington.
Oakland’s first pick this year is No. 48, midway through Friday’s second round, and the Raiders probably don’t have enough ammunition to trade into the first half of the first round. But if a player the Raiders love is still available after the first 15 or 20 picks, the Raiders will likely start making calls.
It’s not clear who that player might be, but an interesting question with the Raiders is whether they’re looking to trade up for a quarterback. The Raiders say they’re set at quarterback with Jason Campbell, but Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick keeps getting linked to Oakland. If there’s a run on quarterbacks in the first round, maybe Davis’s team will shock everyone.
It wouldn’t be the first time.