The NFL trade deadline is five days away and there is a chance the Raiders will be looking to add another draft pick or two between now and the end of April.
Davante Adams already left town in exchange for a third-round pick, and some believe there could be more veteran players in Las Vegas that could find a new home before the November 5th trade deadline.
It isn’t necessary likely to happen, but one of those veterans could be left tackle Kolton Miller.
Yahoo and FOX Sports analyst Jason Fitz talked about Miller’s chances of being traded this week on the team’s flagship radio station.
“Kolton [Miller] is [an] interesting one, because you can’t say in a genuine way that there hasn’t been a palpable fall off in his play this year,” Fitz said on Tuesday on Raider Nation Radio’s The Morning Tailgate.
“I told somebody the other day, I just would not be surprised at all if we find out after the season that he’s going to get something medically cleaned up, because he has not looked like himself this year,” Fitz continued. “And usually when I see a player in the league that has a year that the whole time, you’re like, God, what happened this year? You find out afterwards they were dealing with things we never knew because they’re so tough and what they do.”
“So… would I listen [to] trade offers for Kolton? Yeah, I’d listen for Kolton.”
It’s rare that NFL teams trade a starting offensive tackle, and it’s even more uncommon to happen during the season. But the reason Miller might be a tempting trade candidate is the presence of 25-year-old Thayer Munford.
Vinny Bonsignore responded to Fitz’s comments on the show, and said he believes Munford might have the ability to fill in for Miller permanently at left tackle.
“Two things about what you just said,” Bonsignore said to Fitz. “Go back and watch last year, because Thayer replaced Kolton, and that’s kind of when they went on their nice little run run a little bit with Zamir [White]. And Thayer will tell you, he feels way more comfortable at left tackle, and he held his own last year. I think it was three straight starts at the end of the season at left tackle, where he held his own.”
Looking at Miller’s contract, he will be a free agent after the 2025 season and that means the Raiders have a big decision coming on his future. If he’s injured, there might be reason to extend MIller’s contract, but if his play is falling off for other reasons, maybe the team would consider trade offers for their former first-round pick.
For what it’s worth, Munford will also be a free agent after the 2025 season.
There won’t be any way to keep Munford if Miller stays beyond 2025, so the Raiders will end up paying only one of them either way.
If they commit to Miller for the long term, is it possible the Raiders would consider trading Munford ahead of the deadline?
