Raiders Positioning for MASSIVE Trade...

Two years ago, Brian Thomas Jr. torched the Raiders. Nine catches, 132 yards, and a touchdown. He finished his rookie year with 1,282 yards. He looked like a star. But now look at his last four games. Zero catches, one catch, zero, and zero. On Thursday Night Football, last night he played 19 snaps and didn't get a single target And now Tom Pelissero is reporting that the league believes Jacksonville will move off of Brian Thomas Jr. ahead of this Tuesday's trade deadline. And many different outlets are already speculating what a trade to the Raiders would look like. And honestly, for the way that this offense is operating and how good they are, this makes a lot of sense. But there is one thing heading into this week's trade deadline that the Raiders can't ignore. But before we get into exactly what that is, a quick reminder to hit that subscribe button. If you guys are enjoying the daily content on everything that's happening with the Raiders, I'm going to continue to bring you guys daily uploads with all of the updates, the trade rumors, post-game reactions, and guys, we just hit 3,000 subscribers. Thank you so much for the support on the channel. We're well on our way to our new goal. 5,000 subscribers. This is a situation where you can buy low. Let's take a look at what's happened to this guy. 1,282 yards as a rookie, 707 last year, and then only 117 this year. And last year he had 10 drops, which was second in the NFL. This year, again, it's continuing to go downhill a bit. Eight games, 10 catches, 117 yards. And it's not necessarily a quarterback problem over there with Trevor Lawrence because over the last three games, Parker Washington got Got 21 targets and Thomas got 7. And then came the game in London against Houston at Wembley Stadium. He played 15 snaps in the first half and zero in the second. Liam Cohen was asked if he could trust him, and his answer was, quote, week to week. Thomas himself says that he's not worried about the rumors. And let me tell you, there is a lot of trade rumors revolving around this guy. But everybody goes through adversity. You just got to keep fighting through it. The quarterback of Jacksonville is still in his corner as well. Trevor Lawrence said he hasn't been the easiest, but. Thomas has worked even harder and kept his head down. There are some that have been a little bit more harsh on Thomas Jr. saying he's just an afterthought. He's not even on the field half the time. Thursday, he ran a route on 42% of the dropbacks, fifth amongst Jaguars pass catchers. And that's where the report from Pelissero came and saying a former first round pick being benched, being buried behind. the backup tight end. Jacksonville isn't panicking either and there's a lot of reports saying they're looking to move off of him. Right now they sit at six and two on the year. Now Jeremy Fowler is reporting that Jacksonville is in the business of adding not subtracting but he also says that Thomas may feel like this is no longer a fit for him and could ask his way out. And multiple reports are revealing that the Chiefs have been calling on this player as well but there's multiple reports saying that a lot of teams have interest in Thomas Jr. You can see from these new reports as recent as yesterday, the Steelers and the Commanders also interested in Brian Thomas Jr. So there is definitely a market even at zero catches and notice who's at the front of that line and who keeps coming up in these reports. It's the Chiefs, the team that the Raiders know very well, a divisional opponent. Picture him going deep against the secondary two times a season in a Chiefs jersey rather than a Raiders jersey. It's time to make the call just to steal him away from a divisional opponent. Now you might be thinking, Darius, why you keep bringing up these horrible stats? He's not playing well this season, but think about it like a used car on a lot. Every week that it sits there with zero catches, the price sticker is going to continue to drop. The question is, what team is going to bite? What team is smart enough to buy low on a player like this? And speaking of Brian Thomas Jr. and his next team right now on Kalshi. There's a 63% chance of him staying in Jacksonville. But look, again, the divisional opponent, the Chiefs, at 34%. The Raiders, however, at 14%. A lot of people think it's less likely who are trading on Kalshi. $25 on Yes pays out up to $173. And for Sunday, a big game against the San Francisco 49ers. The Raiders are at... Twenty one percent right now, most people are trading on the 49ers winning that game and twenty five dollars on yes for a Raiders win pays out up to one hundred and twelve dollars. So if you are interested in trying out Kalshi, the sponsor of today's video, use the link in the description and the pin comment and use code digest NFL to get fifty five dollars added to your account instantly when you trade your first. Twenty five dollars. Once again, check out the link in the description and the pin comment. Use promo code digest NFL and a very special thank you to Kalshi for sponsoring this video. So a lot of people are talking about how the Raiders could use more receivers. A lot of the offense is going through the tight ends. And while it has been electric, the offense this year. Maybe they could use a receiver. Brock Bowers, Mayer, and Ian Thomas have 44% of the Raiders receiving yards this season. Brock Bowers alone has 61 targets and 547 yards. And the targets really do tell a bit of a story here. The tight ends have 109 targets. All of the wide receivers combined have 110. Since 2024, he has 674 yards lined up out wide, and that's the most of any tight end in football. So maybe that is a reason to go out and get a young receiver with still some upside because the best receiver on this team right now is a tight end, literally. Now, the top actual wide receiver is Trey Tucker with 474 yards, and Jalen Naylor, who is currently signed for three years and $35 million in March, has 113. Even Christian Gentry, for as much flack as he's gotten this season, a running back, has 376 receiving yards, and that's more than every Raiders wide receiver but one. And there was a new report this week that said Brock Bowers is a star. You cannot deny that, and we all know it, but finding a complement is critical. And when you're thinking of Brian Thomas, that's something that they don't have. A deep threat who makes a defense back up and leaves the middle open for a guy like Bowers. It just makes them more dynamic and more of a threat. And multiple reports, again, and multiple people on social media are talking about it. He keeps defenses honest and opens things up underneath. He's also cheap. I didn't even mention the money yet. He has a cap hit this year of about $4 million, and the team has an option for a fifth year. And I think that actually does matter a lot because you have Fernando Mendoza, who's waiting in the wings as the future QB1 of this team. Wouldn't it be nice to have another big threat, a young receiver that knows the playbook is ready to go once Mendoza is ready to rock? Because as good as Kirk Cousins has been, and there's been a lot of talk of, you know, sell him at the deadline, keep him, probably keep him. He is a bridge. Whoever you add now should still be catching passes when Mendoza is the starter. And there is a little bit of history between these two teams on the trade front as well. The last deadline, the Raiders sent Jacoby Meyers to Jacksonville for a fourth and a sixth round pick. And how the tables have turned, this time it would be the Raiders acquiring the receiver. So on paper, I think this actually does make a lot of sense for this Raiders team. But there is one thing that they should probably be focusing on if you're talking trade deadline. And adding a receiver is a good thing. But again, there's one thing that has plagued this team. The Raiders have given up 28.8 points a game this season. That is the third most in the entire NFL. In their last five games, it's 35.2 points a game, and they went one and four in that time. And this is not on the offense. The offense has been explosive. They are scoring at 26.6 points a game. The problem is you cannot outscore. I don't care who you are right now. You can't outscore how bad the defense has been. Even the run game was a shootout. They scored 38 points against the Jets and still gave up 33. The defensive coordinator Rob Leonard said it wasn't pretty and that there was a lot that we have to fix, and that is for sure. The pass rush has 18 sacks as a team, and Max Crosby has three himself. And there's been multiple articles and reports about how the Raiders aren't expected to make the playoffs or compete this year. And the schedule continues to get harder for them. And a lot of that is going to fall on how bad the defense is. Now, if you're thinking about what to acquire at the deadline, if you do want to be active, because John Spytek did say they will look at everything and they'll be looking at different options. So a cheap young wide receiver does make a lot of sense to buy low. At this deadline to add to this offense. So I don't think you pass on a guy like that. If he is available on Tuesday or just before Tuesday, just try not to overpay for him. Again, a lot of the different articles and speculation and rumors I've seen out there. A lot of people are saying at most the second round pick that might be a bit rich, but a lot of people are mentioning third round pick. But on the other side of things, maybe you pump the brakes a little bit because you need to fix the defense. You can score 38 points in a game, but you still give up 33 points in that game. And you're continuously giving up 30 points in a game. So maybe you go out and you fix the defense first instead of going out and shopping for more offense. However, if you look at the injury reports from this week, and I'll keep you guys updated with the final injury report here on the channel as well. The receiver room got a little thinner this week. Deontay Thornton Jr. was limited in practice Thursday with a back injury. And Thornton is actually one of the deep threats that they have on this team right now. So we got to watch out for Friday's injury report because that's going to tell us a lot about this game Sunday too. In terms of other injuries, Darian Porter was limited too. He hurt his groin last week. It was his first day back at practice from the groin injury and Clint Kubiak called his situation day to day. Thomas Booker was limited on Wednesday with an ankle injury and didn't practice at all on Thursday. Tank Hemingway has no injury designation after his stinger. And management was playing a little bit of musical chairs the last couple of days as they released Cody White on Wednesday, then they re-signed him on Thursday, and then they waived the tight end that they activated on Wednesday, Carter Runyon. And heading into Sunday, Kubiak said that the carries between Ashton Gentry and Mike Washington Jr. will be decided. On a week-to-week basis. On the other side of the field, a lot of updates going down with the 49ers. They are 6-1, and their GM John Lynch just revealed that Mike Evans and Debo Samuel will not be playing this weekend. Demarcus Robinson is expected to play for San Francisco, so they'll still have somebody to stretch the field. And for as good as the offense has been, the 49ers have only allowed 19.9 points a game. That's nine fewer than the Raiders. And their head coach has already spoke out on the game, and we know exactly who he's game planning for. He called Brock Bowers a stud. He said that he can run after the catch, he plays fast, and he can do everything. And that tells a big story here, and maybe why you go out and you make a trade for another option that can stretch the field, because everybody knows where the ball is going, who's the most dangerous threat for this Raiders team. So what we know right now is by Tuesday, Brian Thomas Jr. is probably wearing a different jersey. The only question is how much the Raiders are willing to pay to make it silver and black. Now again, the biggest question is what do you give up for this player? I've talked to a couple friends. They're saying maybe a third round pick. At most, a second round pick. And again, that might be a little bit too rich for him. But guys, I want you to let me know how you feel about that in the comments below. Would you trade for a guy like Brian Thomas Jr.? I mean, a lot of people think that. That it makes a lot of sense. People on Kalshi are trading on it too. I think it could be a very good option to add a more dynamic threat to this offense. But at the same time, you need to fix the defense. The defense is a huge problem. And if they were even a little bit better, we would be absolutely talking playoffs right now. I mean, we're still talking playoffs. They're in the hunt. But you know what I get. So let me know in the comments below. Do you want Brian Thomas Jr. as a Las Vegas Raider? Comment yes or no. And, you know, if you were able to get what he did in his rookie season back, if you were able to build his confidence, he was able to get a fresh start, a new opportunity with a new team, that would be the steal of the trade deadline. You'd be able to build around another young receiver. I think that it could make a lot of sense. Guys, let me know how you feel in the comments below. My name is Darius Dominguez. This is Raiders Digest, and I'll see you in the next video.