Raiders Rumors: Rivals 'Watching' LV to Trade Up for Anthony Richardson in NFL Draft

The Las Vegas Raiders agreed to a deal with Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason, but that might not stop them from pursuing a quarterback in the 2023 NFL draft.

While options such as Ohio State's C.J. Stroud and Alabama's Bryce Young may be gone after the Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans use the top two picks, Las Vegas might look to trade up from its No. 7 spot to go after another signal-caller such as Florida's Anthony Richardson.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler pointed to the Seattle Seahawks' fifth pick as one potential option during an appearance on SportsCenter:

"Anthony Richardson, the most interesting man in the draft. You look at Seattle at No. 5, they're considered a pivot point. There's a little bit of buzz about Seattle and Richardson. Now, the scouts I talked to, they sort of believe it, but they also wonder if Seattle's trying to trade back out of that spot. Drum up some interest for Richardson to have a quarterback-needy team step up and try to get him. You look at the Raiders at No. 7. I've talked to a few teams that are watching the Raiders there. They believe that with Jimmy Garoppolo as sort of a bridge quarterback for at least a year, they're in the perfect spot to get their future passer for a guy like Richardson, who is probably the most talented quarterback in this draft."

Seattle agreed to a new deal with Geno Smith this offseason and could look to use such a trade to address other positions.

Whichever team drafts Richardson will be going with a high-risk, high-reward choice. He has the athleticism and big arm to unlock quite the ceiling at the NFL level, but he also completed just 53.8 percent of his passes last season for the Gators while struggling to establish much consistency as a passer.

Perhaps the Raiders will look past that and only see the ceiling when they make their selection on draft day.