Looking ahead at the Las Vegas Raiders' 2026 opponents, it was never going to be an easy draw for the Silver and Black. Nine of their 17 games were to be played against playoff teams from the previous season, and the rebuilt Kansas City Chiefs are never an easy foe. It was quite daunting.
When the schedule was officially released, though, things looked even worse for Las Vegas. The calendar is full of pitfalls for Klint Kubiak's team, and almost no easy stretches are on the docket. So, the Raiders will be up against it this fall, perhaps even more so than in years past.
Then came Monday. To begin the day, in shocking fashion, the Los Angeles Rams acquired all-world defensive end Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns. With both teams on the Silver and Black's schedule this year, the news came as a bit of a double-edged sword for Las Vegas.
But the hits kept coming later in the day, as A.J. Brown was officially traded to the New England Patriots. And whenever a player is dealt for a first-round pick, as Brown was, in addition to a fifth-rounder, it qualifies as a major deal.
Las Vegas Raiders now face A.J. Brown-led Patriots in 2026 after major trade with Eagles
Brown wearing a Patriots uniform to begin next season was truly a foregone conclusion. Between his ties to Mike Vrabel, his apparently unsalvagable relationship with Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles, and New England's need for a wideout to get over the hump, it was always going to happen.
Now that it is official, however, it affects the Raiders, as the butterfly effect in this league is unfortunately very real. Las Vegas is set to travel up to Gillette Stadium to take on the Patriots in Week 5, and now they'll be facing a team that just got a massive lift at wide receiver.
New England, after cutting ties with Stefon Diggs early this offseason, already added Romeo Doubs to the unit in free agency. The addition of Brown on top of that is a bit intimidating for a young Raiders secondary that is currently full of more questions than answers, at least early in the year.
Does Las Vegas' defensive backfield have tons of talent and promise? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean that a trio of Brown, Doubs and Kayshon Boutte isn't a significant challenge for the group in the early going, and that the trade doesn't impact the Raiders' chances of winning in a negative way.
Last year, when he was in Philadelphia, Brown caught just two passes for 41 yards and a touchdown against Las Vegas. It was his worst outing in the second half of the year. Neither catch came against Eric Stokes, but one did against Darien Porter, and the touchdown came against Jeremy Chinn.
Stokes figures to be the primary matchup for Brown out on the boundary, but hopefully Porter is ready to step up and take another step, and rookie Jermod McCoy is healthy and all that he is billed to be, so that Las Vegas can rotate players and keep them fresh on one of the game's best.
Beating the defending AFC champion on their home turf in Year 1 of a rebuild was always going to be a tall task for Kubiak's young team. But now that A.J. Brown is part of the equation, the Raiders have a lot more to be concerned about for the mid-October matchup.
After getting a rough draw with opponents, an unfavorable schedule with no discernible benefits, and then having the misfortune of playing a Garrett-led Rams team, Las Vegas had its share of schedule woes. Brown's joining New England only intensifies those problems.
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