Oakland Raiders: AJ McCarron trade continues senseless moves
On the same day that the Oakland Raiders traded away Khalil Mack, they also traded for AJ McCarron, which makes just as little sense.
The Oakland Raiders approached cut-down day in a manner that we’ve truly never seen before. They began Sept. 1 by trading away their best player, Khalil Mack, to the Chicago Bears in a move that was perplexing for who they dealt out alone, but even more so when looking at the return. But the Raiders weren’t done there.
Throughout training camp and the preseason, all eyes in Oakland had been on the backup quarterback battle between E.J. Manuel and Connor Cook. The question was who the Raiders would keep as the man behind Derek Carr. The answer, it turns out, was neither as Oakland made another trade, this time sending a fifth-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for AJ McCarron (per ESPN’s Adam Schefter).
As baffling as the Mack trade was and is, the McCarron trade is almost just as nonsensical. With players like Landry Jones and many other serviceable backups around the league being traded, the Raiders made a trade for McCarron.
Even if you’re an ardent supporter in McCarron’s prowess as a backup quarterback (I’m not), there comes a point where you have to weight the costs of what you’re doing. Personally, it seems as if the Raiders would’ve been just as well off looking around at the new available free agents and finding a backup quarterback. They could’ve found a player of the now-former Bills quarterback in that mix.
More importantly, however, they also wouldn’t have had to give up any draft capital to sign such a player, which they obviously did in the trade with Buffalo. Yes, it’s just a fifth-round pick, but that’s still an asset — even if a small one. So, even if the Raiders think not making the trade would land them a lesser player, it still might be worth it in the interest of retaining assets.
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Put simply, Saturday was not a happy day to be a Raiders fan. Those who have talked themselves into the Jon Gruden era have to be questioning it that now. Cut-down day for the 2018 season could be a sign of things to come and, if that’s the case, things could be about to get ugly for the Silver and Black.