The Oakland Raiders opted to let Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden walk away from the team in free agency and replaced them with Roy Helu and Trent Richardson to pair with Latavius Murray. Building around quarterback Derek Carr has been a priority for the Raiders heading into this offseason and the NFL Draft and head coach Jack Del Rio likes what he sees so far. However, is he happy enough to not pursue Adrian Peterson in a trade?
According to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, the Raiders are one of six teams in the mix for Peterson after he was reinstated into the NFL. This is no surprise considering Oakland has the salary cap space to afford Peterson and has shown interest in both LeSean McCoy and DeMarco Murray when they were both available. However, are the Raiders interested enough to spend a first-round draft pick on the running back with other needs more precedent on the roster? According to Del Rio, he is happy having Richardson and Murray compete for the starting job and focusing the draft picks on other areas.
Del Rio spoke out in support of the team's running back rotation mainly Richardson who has fallen onto criticism since he entered the NFL. In need of a solid season, Del Rio believes Richardson will compete for the starting spot and do well with the team.
"I think it will be a competitive situation, Del Rio said, via ESPN. "What I saw when we brought him in and talked to him was a young man that was hungry to kind of leave that portion of his career behind him and start fresh. My challenge to him was, 'Look, I don't want you to worry about anything other than coming in here and competing your butt off every day. Come in here and be a great teammate. Come in here and find a role on special teams. Come in here and just grind every day with the hunger you had as a freshman at Alabama.'"
According to ESPN reporter Bill Williamson, the Raiders will likely target their No .4 draft pick to a wide receiver over grabbing Peterson. Despite signing Michael Crabtree, the Raiders receiving rotation leaves a lot to be desired as it is made up of guys that have yet to break the 1,000 mark in a few seasons. Carr needs a No. 1 threat to work with and players like Amari Cooper or Kevin White would be the ideal fit.
