The Raiders’ search for help at wide receiver apparently did not include a real push for Marvin Harrison Jr. in the end.
According to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter, Las Vegas only had early curiosity about Harrison and moved on when the price got too steep. On the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast on Sunday night, Carpenter said it had been about two weeks since the Raiders had any meaningful interest in the former Cardinals wide receiver.
“It’s just like when people said they were in on Vita Vea and they weren’t,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“I told you very early that the Raiders would only have been interested in Marvin Harrison if the price had been right… so the Raiders did early ask what the price would be and it was a ridiculously stupid price and that’s why I said to you… Two weeks ago, I said the Raiders are not interested at a stupid price… they have not been in this since I reported that two weeks ago. The price was ridiculously high. Houston just overpaid.”
That leaves Las Vegas in a tricky spot with the November 10 trade deadline approaching. The Raiders need a true No. 1 receiver, but their recent slide has made the idea of buying less straightforward.
The next two games won’t make life any easier, with the Bills and Rams on deck. If things break a certain way, the Raiders could be sitting at 3-4 before their Week 8 matchup with the Jets. And after that comes a road trip to Santa Clara to face the 49ers, followed by a home game against the Seahawks the week after the deadline.
Depending on how those next four games go, general manager John Spytek could find himself in seller territory instead of buyer mode.
If the season keeps trending the wrong way for Klint Kubiak and company, teams will start asking about Maxx Crosby again. And if a contender loses its quarterback in the next month, Kirk Cousins could become part of the trade conversation as well.
There’s also a reason Aidan O’Connell was kept as a third quarterback, and some around the situation believe Spytek held onto him to preserve flexibility with Cousins before the deadline.
Cousins’ value, though, is not exactly sky-high after Sunday. He was a major topic around the league just a few days ago, but the Patriots exposed his arm strength and lack of mobility.
The NFL changes fast, and Cousins is coming off a week 5 performance that did him no favors. A late-round pick would seem like the most realistic return, and for a team that needs a starter in a hurry, that kind of price could still make sense.
Crosby is the name that always hangs over these kinds of conversations, even if nobody wants to say it out loud. The offers might never become public, but the question lingers: would any team put something on the table close to what the Ravens offered and then backed away from in March?
Probably not. But as the Cowboys are showing right now, a player like Crosby would draw interest in a hurry.
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