When head coach Antonio Pierce took over for the Las Vegas Raiders, the plan was for the offense to manage the game and allow the defense to carry the team to victory. Unfortunately, the defense suffered a series of injuries last season and the offense was plagued by some of the worst quarterback play in the league.
Many in Raider Nation wanted the team to tank at the end of the season to land a top collegiate quarterback in the NFL Draft like Miami's Cam Ward or Colorado's Shedeur Sanders. This plan failed though, as two meaningless wins at the end of the year seemingly put them out of contention.
Las Vegas instead traded for Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith and extended him for up to $85.5 million, shutting the door on trading up for a rookie signal-caller. Sanders' stock has begun to fall in the months and weeks leading up to the draft, which led some to believe that the Raiders could take Sanders at No. 6 and replicate a Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. scenario.
Shedeur Sanders to Las Vegas is a pipe dream for Raiders
This is not likely to unfold for the Silver and Black, however. Despite a report that the team was meeting with Sanders, FanDuel Sportsbook recently updated their NFL Draft odds for each team, as well as individual players, and they indicate that Sanders being drafted by Las Vegas is incredibly unlikely.
The odds-on favorite to land Sanders is the Saints, followed by the Giants, Steelers, Jets, Browns and Rams. Las Vegas is seventh on the list, just ahead of the Seahawks, but the odds are a longshot.
Not to mention, the odds for what position the Raiders are most likely to draft first are available, and a quarterback is nowhere on the list. Running back, cornerback, offensive line, linebacker, defensive line and wide receiver are all more likely than Las Vegas taking a signal-caller in the first round.
According to FanDuel, the Raiders are the most likely team to select Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty with the No. 6 pick, which means that the team would have to pass on Sanders if he is available.
At one point in the offseason, it seemed like Sanders to Las Vegas was almost a guarantee and that the interest between the two camps was mutual. However, things change fast in the NFL, and any notion of the Colorado quarterback joining the Silver and Black feels like a distant memory.
In the NFL Draft, anything can happen, and odds are just odds. But the good folks in Las Vegas are not in the business of losing money, so they wouldn't give high odds to anything that is likely to happen.
