It's hard to believe, but the trade deadline is just a few weeks away. And with the Raiders in building mode, acquiring a long term solution for their need at wide receiver could be smart. For that, ESPN's Bill Barnwell sees an obvious solution -- trade for Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr.
The most obvious candidate for a Thomas trade, though, would be the Raiders. Vegas still needs to add receiver help beyond tight end Brock Bowers for rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Tre Tucker has been effective as a deep threat, but he's probably stretched as a primary wide receiver and will be a free agent after the season. Offseason addition Jalen Nailor, signed to a three-year, $35 million deal, has six catches in five games. Bowers is brilliant, and Michael Mayer has been a valuable in-line tight end, but coach Klint Kubiak needs a receiver who can both stretch the defense and run a full route tree.
The former LSU star is in the third year of his rookie deal. He was the 23rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and as a former first rounder, his rookie contract carries a fifth year option on it, which means he basically halfway through his deal.
With the rest of this year, and potentially another two years after that, the 24-year-old former Pro Bowler would be somewhat of a long term solution on a team that is looking for just that.
Barnwell suggests the compensation in such a deal be similar to what the Texans sent to Arizona for Marvin Harrison Jr. That would be a second round pick.
A second rounder seems like a lot for a guy who has fallen completely out of favor and was chosen just nine spots above the second round in the first place. But there is probably a team out there who had a low first round or high second round grade on him out of college and then saw what he did as a rookie, catching 87 passes for 1282 yards and 10 touchdowns as justification for that high grade.
The question becomes about what happened since that great rookie season. Last season, he played three fewer games, but saw his production nearly cut in half in terms of catches (48) and yards (707) while catching just two passes. As it happens, that's when the Jaguars acquired Jacobi Meyers from the Raiders in a midseason trade and Meyers' presence seems to have contributed to Thomas's fall down the depth chart.
This season, Thomas has just nine catches for 105 yards and hasn't caught a pass the past two weeks on five targets. Maybe a change of scenery would be good, but I'd imagine he'd have to satisfy a lot of worries for the Raiders new staff to trust that he would fit the types of players they covet.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: ESPN names Raiders 'obvious candidate' to trade for Pro Bowl WR