The idea that Gabe Jackson is a prime target as trade bait is not new. I put out a list of the Raiders’ top five candidates to be cut or traded back in mid-January and Gabe Jackson was one of them.
Back on March 10, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Jackson was being discussed in trades by the team. It’s been a month and a half and Jackson is still on the team, but until the draft is over, no one was thinking he was going to get too comfortable.
The reason is that Jackson is due some $9.6 million this year with no dead money if cut or traded. When the Raiders were running a power blocking scheme, Jackson was one of the best in the league and has played both left and right guard.
With just over an hour until the draft starts, Mike Silver reports that Jackson is still actively being shopped by the Raiders, adding that the price is ‘not high’.
The Raiders have shopped starting guard Gabe Jackson in recent weeks… according to several GMs. The asking price is not high.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) April 23, 2020
Notoriously, fans overvalue the players on their own team. Some probably think the former third-round pick is worth as much as a second-round pick. Well, he is and he isn’t.
He isn’t going to fetch a second-round pick straight up. Consider that All-Pro Kelechi Osemele yielded a sixth-round pick to the Raiders last year, so expecting much more for Jackson is simply unrealistic.
He should get more than Osemele did because he’s two years younger and his salary is less expensive.
Best case scenario is probably trading Jackson along with another draft pick — probably a third-round pick — in order to jump into the second round. Essentially a way for the team to move up in the draft.
The Raiders re-signed Denzelle Good and Jordan Devey this offseason and added Eric Kush. But if they move on from Jackson, adding a guard in the draft could still be a good idea if they can grab a guy they like in the mid to late rounds.
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