Getty Former Las Vegas Raiders WR Nelson Agholor.
The passing attack for the Las Vegas Raiders was supposed to be unstoppable this season. Davante Adams, Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow were supposed to give opposing defenses nightmares. That hasn’t been the case as Adams is the only one of the three who has been putting up big numbers.
Much of that has been due to injury. Renfrow and Waller haven’t been fully healthy for most of the season. The two Pro Bowlers should figure things out at some point but the Raiders may need to make a move at the trade deadline to solidify the offense. The team has already made a couple of trades with the New England Patriots over the past year and general manager Dave Ziegler could call up his former team again.
According to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, the Patriots have been shopping wide receiver Nelson Agholor, who was the Raiders’ leading wide receiver in 2020:
The Las Vegas Raiders are always one to watch with New England deals since general manager Dave Ziegler, a former Bill Belichick lieutenant, has executed multiple trades with the Patriots since taking over Vegas in January, including one for offensive tackle Justin Herron last month.
Bourne would welcome a change in uniform due to declining opportunities. After 55 catches for 800 yards on 70 targets last season, he is on pace for 44 targets this season. Wideout Nelson Agholor is a name that comes up in discussions across the league, too.
Could Raiders Trade for Agholor?
Agholor has never quite lived up to his status as a first-round pick outside of his single season with the Raiders. During that year, he built amazing rapport with Derek Carr and had 896 receiving yards while averaging 18.7 yards per game. He was a consistent deep threat for the quarterback thanks to his speed. He also spent last year in Josh McDaniels‘ offensive system so he has some familiarity there.
The Patriots convinced Agholor to leave the Raiders by giving him a $22 million contract over two years. He hasn’t lived up to that contract and only has 698 yards in 20 games with the team. He’d be a much better back with Carr in Las Vegas. His value on the trade market won’t be high due to his contract so the Raiders could convince the Patriots to send him over for a fifth-round pick.
NELSON AGHOLOR. 85 YARDS. #RaiderNation
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Davante Adams Says Raiders Are Better Than Record
Despite being 1-4 and in last place in the AFC, the Raiders aren’t giving up on trying to make the playoffs yet. They’ve lost all four games by a combined 14 points and could easily be 5-0 if a few plays go their way. The team is coming off the bye week and had a chance to regroup. Davante Adams poured over the tape over the break and came away from it confident that his team still had a chance.
“I actually got a really good feeling from watching the tape,” Adams said Wednesday. “Obviously, you look at the record and none of us are proud of that part. But when you look at what we put into it – not that there’s any moral victories in this, but you even look at some of the power rankings and the fact that they have us where they have us after having one victory at this point shows that there’s something that we’re doing out there that people are taking notice of and just not finishing to the best of our ability.”