The Las Vegas Raiders are heading into a big game on Monday Night Football in Week 8 of the 2023 NFL regular season. They are heading on the road to face the Detroit Lions, who want to get back on track after suffering a blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 7.
The Raiders had an embarrassing loss of their own, losing 30-12 against the Chicago Bears, who were led by undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagnet out of Division II Shepard University. That snapped a two-game winning streak and has Las Vegas in a position to be sellers ahead of the deadline.
A loss to the Lions on Monday night would drop the Raiders to 3-5 on the season. Given the wackiness of the season, that certainly wouldn’t eliminate them from the playoffs. But, with nine teams in the AFC having records over the .500 mark, it would make for a very difficult road ahead.
It would be in the best long-term interest of the franchise to be sellers ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. However, don’t expect any of the Raiders’ big-name players, such as edge rusher Maxx Crosby, to be on the move.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, via JPAFootball on X, formerly known as Twitter, teams have been calling the Raiders about Crosby but have been turned away by the Raiders. They consider him and wide receiver Davante Adams cornerstone pieces of the franchise and have no plans to trade them away.
It isn’t too surprising that the Raiders don’t want to trade their best players as they believe they can still make a run at the playoffs. But, things are going to start getting ugly in Las Vegas, especially if the losses continue piling up.
Adams has already been very vocal about his role within the offense and the team’s inability to win, which Crosby piggybacked on. Even if they aren’t traded ahead of the Halloween deadline, expect trade talks to pick up again in the offseason as the Raiders, as currently constructed, aren’t close to contending.
