On a team led by Pete Carroll, nothing is out of bounds during training camp. Back in 2012, when he was the Seattle Seahawks' head coach, he said a third-round rookie named Russell Wilson had a chance to be the team's starting quarterback over high-priced free agent signing Matt Flynn.
Wilson obviously won the job, and the rest is history. Carroll professes a culture of competition, and the Las Vegas Raiders needed that kind of tone-setter. Whether it's ultimately meaningful or not, how reps are doled out during training camp is subject to change on a daily basis.
As preseason games get added to what's being observed and analyzed at training camp, the Raiders' roster and depth chart stand to be fairly fluid. There's a wide spectrum of possibilities for change before roster cuts in late August.
Two 'surprise' Raiders preseason trade possibilities could actually happen
Moe Moton of Sportsnaut has offered two trades that the Raiders could make to shake up their roster, with the first sending quarterback Aidan O'Connell elsewhere.
"Las Vegas may have a valuable backup signal-caller in O’Connell, who could generate trade buzz closer to the final roster cutdown date on Aug. 26. If so, the Raiders may be able to get a middle-round pick for the fourth-rounder from the 2023 draft," Moton wrote. "With Smith locked into the starting position, O’Connell’s trade value isn’t going to increase over time. ... He could be an attractive trade candidate for a team that wants a reliable backup. If the Raiders accept an offer for him, rookie sixth-rounder Cam Miller would become the No. 2 quarterback."
Early in the offseason. O'Connell was an easy trade candidate for the Raiders. That idea has seemingly faded into strong unlikelihood when it was realized that sixth-round rookie Cam Miller would then become Geno Smith's primary backup.
But if O'Connell carries a strong start to training camp into preseason games, his trade value will never be higher. Miller has to be deemed able to be the No. 2 quarterback, but the idea of trading O'Connell could be revisited in the coming weeks.
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The second trade candidate Moton offered is cornerback Jakorian Bennett, with early camp reports suggesting that he has fallen behind in his position battle. The third-year man, listed at 5-foot-10, also doesn't quite fit the physical profile Carroll likes in cornerbacks.
"Perhaps the coaching staff wants a longer look at the newcomers, but Bennett’s absence from the rotation among first-stringers behind Stokes, Porter, and Richardson indicates he has ground to make up to win one of the starting cornerback jobs," Moton wrote. "If he doesn’t reclaim a lead role, the Raiders could look to move him rather than watch his trade value drop as a backup."
O'Connell has inherent value as the most experienced backup quarterback the Raiders have. A wide-open battle at cornerback means Bennett should get his chance to claim a big role. But there is a world where both are prime trade assets between now and Week 1, and general manager John Spytek would be right to strike if those opportunities come.