Raiders Getting Flooded With Calls

Pro Football Talk: Though the Detroit Lions are getting plenty of interest in the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, we’re told that the Oakland Raiders are being absolutely flooded with interest in the No. 1 overall pick.

Most of the teams that are interested in moving to No. 2 hope to land receiver Calvin Johnson. The reality is that the Raiders could take Johnson (and we think they should), making the move up to No. 2 irrelevant.

So teams are going straight to the franchise that holds all the cards.

And, in our view, that will only make the price of a trade even higher. Despite speculation, for example, that the Bucs would send all of their first-day picks to Oakland for the No. 1 spot, the trade chart devised by Jimmy Johnson in the early 1990s (and used by most if not all teams today) shows that the Bucs would still be getting the better end of the bargain.

Al Davis is shrewd enough, in our view, to realize that the balance needs to tilt decidedly the other way. If Herschel Walker and Ricky Williams were worth mind-boggling trade packages, a guy who likely will be far better than either of those players ever were or could be is surely worth a lot more.