In a time when the Las Vegas Raiders should be ravenously searching for young talent, John Spytek and the front office should not be entertaining any deals for veteran players. Names like Stefon Diggs, Jauan Jennings and even A.J. Brown keep coming up, but they ultimately serve no purpose.
On that same line of thinking is the fact that the Raiders should be holding onto any promising youngsters they already have in the building and looking to offload any pricey veterans if things go sideways again. This was the reasoning for dealing Maxx Crosby, before it was ultimately reversed.
So, a player like guard Jackson Powers-Johnson, who was a second-rounder just two years ago, should be treasured by the current regime. No, he hasn't fully gotten going in Las Vegas yet, and his name keeps coming up as a trade option. But the Raiders need to hold firm and keep him.
Las Vegas Raiders have no business dealing Jackson Powers-Johnson no matter how often it comes up
After hearing rumors that Powers-Johnson could be moved at the trade deadline last season, Las Vegas kept the versatile interior offensive lineman. But Robert Mayes brought him up again as a trade candidate on a recent episode of The Athletic Football Show.
"I'd at least call about Jackson Powers Johnson," Mays said. "He's had just like a weird stretch there where he's bounced around positions. It's a new coaching staff. So that's another one where I would be like, 'What do we think there?' New front office."
While Mays' point can easily be understood, as Tom Telesco, who drafted Powers-Johnson, hasn't been with the Raiders for two years now, young talent is young talent. It's not as if Powers-Johnson was a niche "scheme-fit" player drafted in the later rounds or a project only one staff could take on.
Powers-Johnson was an award-winning offensive lineman in college at Oregon and has shown some serious flashes of potential in his early NFL career. While he has battled injuries, poor coaching and a rough offensive situation in equal measure, his raw ability cannot simply be cast aside.
It remains to be seen how he'll fare in Klint Kubiak's new offense, but Powers-Johnson is seemingly excited about the Raiders' new coach, and based on his athletic traits, he seems like a good fit in an outside zone scheme that covets great movers.
The Raiders need to ask themselves this question: Why would other teams want Powers-Johnson on the roster? If the answer is simply that he is young and talented but could use a change of scenery, then Las Vegas shouldn't oblige. The scenery has changed plenty for him in Sin City this offseason.
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