The Oakland Raiders have been a little bit all over the place since Jon Gruden took over as their coach and de facto power broker. With the addition of general manager Mike Mayock, the trend has continued.
Oakland traded defensive superstar Khalil Mack and wide receiver Amari Cooper plus they acquired Antonio Brown, swinging trades with draft choices left and right. Now Oakland stands with three first-round draft picks (and four in the top 35). In the middle of their rebuild, could they want even more picks?
What would a Buffalo/Oakland trade look like?
Jimmy Johnson Trade Value
According to the old Jimmy Johnson draft-value chart, The Buffalo Bills’ pick is worth 1350 points. The Raiders’ fourth overall pick is worth 1800. The 450-point difference is worth Buffalo’s second-round pick, but the Raiders would need to throw in something to balance it a bit.
Buffalo gets 4 and 140 (5th round) overall plus 2020 5th rounder = 1835.5 points + future pick
Oakland gets 9 and 40 overall = 1850 points
Modern Trade Value
If you’re looking at newer draft charts, it’s slightly different. SB Nation’s Rich Hill used a lot of data analysis to come up with this draft trade chart last year. In this scenario, Buffalo’s pick is worth 387.01 points while Oakland’s fourth overall picks is worth 490.52. Buffalo would need the equivalent of a low second-round pick, so we used a collection of third rounder and Day 3 picks for the reloading Mayock to use.
Buffalo gets 4 overall = 490.52 points
Raiders get 9, 75, 113, 148, and 230 overall = 490.92 points
A different look would give Oakland the Bills’ first- and second-round picks for 4 overall and a third rounder, but Oakland traded their third-round selection already.
Opportunity Cost
In this case, Buffalo would be asking the Raiders to pass on a top talent on their draft board and it would cost a premium to get into the top 4, especially if teams are infatuated with a quarterback or generational defensive player. The Bills would likely need to give up their top two picks to get to Oakland’s pick.
The Raiders would get to make picks at 9, 24, 27, 35, and 40 which might be very appealing for them to restock the cupboard or package to move up and get a top-ten player who is sliding.
Buffalo gets 4 overall
Oakland gets 9 and 40 overall