Why Hue Jackson Jeopardized Future of Oakland Raiders Through Carson Palmer Deal

The Oakland Raiders made a bold move yesterday and while the deal to acquire quarterback Carson Palmer could pay off for Hue Jackson and his team, it was incredibly short-sighted and is terribly risky. 

Jackson—who is now almost universally recognized as the man in charge of the entire organization—shipped a first-round draft pick in 2012, and a second-round pick in 2013 to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for Palmer. That second-round pick can become a first-rounder if the Raiders win a playoff game this season. 

I like Palmer. I think he is a much better quarterback than his numbers showed over the past few seasons with the Bengals. He was playing behind an awful offensive line and he rarely had time to throw the football. Still, the two-time Pro Bowler will turn 32 in December, and even if the past few years were an aberration, his skills are bound to diminish in the near future.

The Raiders are obviously encouraged by their 4-2 start this season, and feel they have enough young talent to not need the draft picks they shipped to Cincinnati. But if the past few seasons have shown anything, it is that successful NFL franchises are constantly adding talent through the draft. 

After the Palmer deal, the Raiders have only have two picks in the 2012 draft remaining, one fifth and one sixth-rounder. Three of the picks the Raiders have lost in the upcoming draft have now gone to pay for quarterbacks. Their first-rounder went in exchange for Palmer, their third-rounder paid for the selection of Terrelle Pryor in this year's supplemental draft and the team's fourth-rounder went to the Washington Redskins in exchange for Jason Campbell. Anyone will tell you that's bad management and if you can't see that you're probably wearing a Darth Vader mask.

While the Raiders are a young team and have plenty of young players, adding more is never a bad thing. Look at how the Patriots, the league's model franchise, have constantly added to their large talent pool. The result? New England has remained at the top of the league over time.

I know a big chunk of Oakland's fans are seeing this as a huge win and are thinking adding talent in the upcoming drafts isn't that big a deal. Those fans are absolutely wrong.

The Raiders do have young players all over the field, but injuries happen, guys fall off and it's not like all of Oakland's young guys are playing great anyway.

The Raiders currently rank 28th in the NFL in total defense, allowing 396.7 yards per game. They are 28th in pass defense (283.5 yards per game), and 16th in run defense (113.2 yards per game). The team could certainly use upgrades at defensive end, cornerback and outside linebacker.

To be fair, Oakland is banking on getting several compensatory selections in the 2012 draft for the free agent departures of Nnamdi Asomugha, Zach Miller, Robert Gallery and Thomas Howard. But those will all be mid-to-late round picks, which means the team will probably not be able to add much immediate impact talent.

The trade for Palmer was definitely bold and shows that Hue Jackson believes his team can win now. While that's an admirable thought, it may have mortgaged the team's future in the long run. Without high-level draft picks over the next two years, the Raiders won't be able to improve themselves or fill holes if any key players get injured. 

Getting Palmer was nice, but jeopardizing the future of the franchise in the process was a foolish move.