Operating under the idea that they are in something of a win-now mode with Pete Carroll as the head coach, and given that they could use a top-flight wide receiver, the Las Vegas Raiders are easy to mention as a potential trade suitor for the Washington Commanders' Terry McLaurin.
Because he is under contract with the Commanders, they don't have to do anything with him. Plus, if a team wants to land McLaurin, it will be quite costly. Fortunately, he does not fit the diva persona commonly attached to true No. 1 wide receivers, so he could mesh well with Carroll's culture in Las Vegas.
Of course, a trade for McLaurin would not be the first time that the Raiders made a noteworthy deal for a big-name wide receiver with the idea that he is the missing piece. These trades, obviously, have come back to bite the team in a major way.
History says Raiders should be cautious about possible trade for Terry McLaurin
Jared Dubin of CBS Sports recently ranked the 12 worst NFL player trades since 2000. The Raiders are well-represented on the list, with Randy Moss going to and from Oakland lumped into one spot at No. 3.
"Moss never looked anything like himself while playing for Oakland. He lazed his way through two seasons, catching 102 passes for 1,553 yards and 11 scores in 29 games. At 29 years old, it looked like he might be done," Dubin noted. " And then the Raiders traded him to New England for a mere fourth-round pick, and Moss had one of the best wide-receiver seasons in NFL history, hauling in 98 passes for 1,493 yards and a league-record 23 touchdown grabs. He clearly had plenty left in the tank over the next few years. ... The Raiders got robbed coming and going on Moss deals."
As lackluster as his performance was, at least Moss played for the Raiders. The other move on the list was when the team traded the Pittsburgh Steelers for Antonio Brown, whose myriad of issues led to a quick departure from the team before playing a game in 2019.
"Brown proceeded to get frostbite in a cryotherapy session, file a grievance about his helmet, sit out almost all of training camp, violate team rules and get fined multiple times by the team, confront and reportedly threaten then-Raiders general manager Mike Mayock and then demand his release shortly before the season opener," Dubin wrote. "He never played for the Raiders and has since been plagued by various legal issues of increasing severity."
There's not much else to say about Brown, who should honestly be toward the top of this list.
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More recently, the trade to reunite Davante Adams with his college quarterback, Derek Carr, didn't work out either. Adams also can't stop ripping the Raiders, as if they didn't trade him to where he wanted to go last season after he sat out with what many assumed to be a phantom injury. His frustrating saga with the team is well-documented.
The trade to acquire Brown was actually the second straight offseason the Raiders acquired a wide receiver from the Steelers. In April of 2018, they sent a third-round pick to Pittsburgh for Martavis Bryant. The Raiders released and re-signed Bryant in quick succession as he faced a possible suspension for violating the NFL's drug policy.
He played in eight games, with 19 catches for 266 yards and zero touchdowns, before landing on IR with a knee injury. The league office then took the opportunity to suspend him for violating the terms of his conditional reinstatement, and he never played in an NFL game again.
It's safe to say that McLaurin is wired way differently than Moss, Brown, Adams or Bryant. Plus, the Raiders' situation is the best it has been in a long time. But sometimes, it's best to know when history is simply against you, and with that in mind, a bold trade to acquire McLaurin might be more trouble than it's ultimately worth.