REPORT: Raiders Sound Deeply Disorganized Fielding Trade Offers

The Oakland Raiders should be crushing trade talks at this point. They seem to be involved in a lot of trade discussions. And yet general manager Reggie McKenzie and coach Jon Gruden seem to be making a mess of it.

Amid a flurry of trade rumors, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport painted a picture of a disorganized Raiders organization. When teams call to gauge the team on a trade offer, the Raiders’ potential trade partners might call McKenize before wondering whether Gruden might give them a better offer.

The Raiders’ two leaders could be making two different deals with the same team. With the Raiders making every player on their roster available in a trade, according to NFL Media, that’s an embarrassing revelation for Oakland.

There’s a chance this method has worked for a Raiders’ trade partner. After all, Gruden said he played no part in including the second-round pick that went back to the Bears in the Mack trade. That likely means McKenzie added that compensation to the deal. Was it without Gruden’s consent?

Trade talks are not the only example of miscommunication in Oakland. Gruden has insisted that he and the Raiders are not tanking amid the Mack trade and the Cooper trade rumors. Gruden called a meeting before the bye with hopes of instilling confidence in his players by telling them he wasn’t tanking. And yet, players are getting the sense that Gruden believes he’ll need two years of major roster upheaval to bring the requisite talent to Oakland, according to NFL Media.

Under Gruden, the Raiders have had nothing but mixed messages. If they’re going to overhaul this roster successfully with a focus on using the trade market, they’ll need to figure out how to get McKenzie and Gruden on the same page — or at least on the same phone call.