The Raiders fell to 2-6 with Sunday’s overtime loss to the Jaguars and having that record at the trade deadline usually lands teams on the list of prospective sellers.
While adding to draft assets sounds like a good idea for a team that could use talent just about everywhere on the field, it doesn’t sound like that’s the route the Raiders are going to take. Reports in recent weeks have said that they’ve rebuffed overtures from teams about a trade for defensive end Maxx Crosby and head coach Pete Carroll said on Monday that the team is focused on improving in the present rather than building for the future.
“I’m not thinking that way,” Carroll said. “That never comes to my mind at all. We’re trying to get better, ongoing, right now and see what we can get done.”
The present may be Carroll’s focus, but moving future capital to a player ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s deadline seems unlikely and unwise for a team that’s shown fleeting signs of life for much of the season. Full answers to the direction that the Raiders and others will take will come in the next few hours.
