Raiders Trade for C.J. Stroud in Edholm's NFL Mock Draft After Aaron Rodgers Deal

After the New York Jets finally traded for Aaron Rodgers, the next significant move any team might make for a quarterback will likely come on Thursday when the 2023 NFL draft begins.

In his latest mock draft for NFL.com, Eric Edholm is projecting the Las Vegas Raiders to be the club that makes the move in a deal with the Arizona Cardinals for the No. 3 pick to take Ohio State's C.J. Stroud.

It will be interesting to see how far the potential bidding to trade up for a quarterback goes after the Jets paid a premium price to the Green Bay Packers for Rodgers. Some people assumed Green Bay was in a precarious spot with a quarterback who no longer wanted to play there.

When it once seemed like the top four draft picks could all be quarterbacks, there's a growing sense Stroud, Kentucky's Will Levis and Florida's Anthony Richardson will be available when the Cardinals come on the clock with the third selection.

The Carolina Panthers seem locked on Alabama's Bryce Young with the No. 1 pick. The Houston Texans certainly need a quarterback, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reported last week they "don't seem particularly sold" on going in that direction with the second pick.

Per ESPN's Matt Miller, the Texans have Alabama edge-rusher Will Anderson Jr. as the No. 1 overall player on their draft board.

Houston passing on a quarterback would be an ideal situation for a Cardinals team with a depleted roster that needs more draft capital. They could leverage all of the clubs that want a signal-caller to get a deal that would benefit them.

The Raiders are a team that needs a long-term answer at quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo is good enough to get them through this season if he stays healthy, but injuries have kept him off the field for a total of 31 games since the start of 2018.

Garoppolo's three-year, $72.75 million deal signed in March shouldn't preclude the Raiders from taking a big swing if they like Stroud or one of the other quarterbacks and don't want to risk waiting for one of them to fall to No. 7.

There was a time when Stroud was a heavy favorite to be the No. 1 pick. Teams that were hoping he would be available to them when the predraft process began in February might be plotting ways to get him now that it seems like he might fall out of the top two selections.