The 2024 NFL Draft will be Tom Telesco's first one with the Las Vegas Raiders and it looks like the team's new general manager is looking to make a splash.
According to The Athletic, the Raiders want to trade up in the first round and they're currently exploring what it might take to make that happen. The Raiders currently hold the 13th overall pick and ideally, they'd like to move up into the "5 to 7 range," according to the report.
If Telesco decides to make a move up the board, it sounds like Antonio Pierce would definitely approve of the decision. The new Raiders coach was asked about a possible trade up at the combine and he sounded like he was all for it.
"I am sure that's something that Telesco has already spoken about, but that's my personality," Pierce said of trading up. "As you guys saw and witnessed, I am a go-getter. But obviously that has to be a collective agreement."
If the Raiders do trade up, it wouldn't be surprising to see them target a quarterback. Right now, the top four quarterbacks in the draft are Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy. Although two of those quarterbacks are expected to go with the top two picks, there's good chance that at least one of them will still be available if the Raiders were to make the move up to fifth overall.
If the Raiders do draft a quarterback, Pierce made it clear that he wants that QB on the field as soon as possible.
"I would hope whoever we draft, [if] that's the route we go, that's who the starter becomes," Pierce said. "You don't want to put a Band-Aid at that position. That's old … that's old, man. I think the Raiders … we've seen that enough in this organization."
Although the Raiders would like to trade up, it's not a total lock that it will happen. Not only do you have to figure out fair compensation for the deal, but the draft is a total crapshoot, so there's no guarantee your pick will even pan out, which could keep Telesco from making a deal.
"You have to weigh how bad you want the player and how much you're giving up," Telesco said when asked about trading up for a QB, via The Athletic. "It's just a judgment decision. Part of that is we may think we know the player is going to hit, but we really don't. You never 100 percent know."
If the Raiders trade up and Jayden Daniels is still available, it wouldn't be surprising at all to see them go that route. Pierce has a history with Daniels dating back to their time at Arizona State. Daniels was on the roster for three seasons (2019-21) that Pierce worked as an assistant coach.
Right now, none of our draft experts have the Raiders trading up, but that could certainly change. Over on our CBSSports.com mock draft page, three of our four experts have the Raiders taking a corner at 13th overall and the twist here is that the
