NFL Fact or Fiction: It's Time for the Raiders to Tank

Las Vegas needs to embrace bottoming out if it's going to get better. Plus, are the Steelers making a mistake by starting Russell Wilson over Justin Fields?

Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce made a quarterback change in Week 6, but the team's next franchise signal caller likely isn't on the roster yet. / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Don’t expect Davante Adams and Amari Cooper to be the last notable wide receivers to be moved before next month's trade deadline.

The MMQB staff saw this trade frenzy coming with a handful of playoff contenders needing help at wide receiver. My colleague Matt Verderame had Adams and Cooper at the top of his list of 15 potential wide receivers who could be traded before the Nov. 5 deadline. Verderame mentioned the Buffalo Bills still needed a wide receiver, even after defeating the New York Jets on Monday night. The team agreed with his take and landed Cooper hours after the Jets executed a trade for Adams. 

The Bills are ahead of the Jets in the AFC East standings, but the addition of Cooper might not be enough to keep pace with the Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens. It wouldn’t be surprising to see one of those three teams making a notable trade before early November.

The Jets are now burdened with a good problem to have, with two dynamic wide receivers in Adams and Garrett Wilson. But how will the Jets use them in the Aaron Rodgers–led offense? 

As for the Las Vegas Raiders, don’t expect them to search for a new wide receiver to replace Adams. They have many problems to address, but nothing is more important than landing a franchise quarterback. Let’s take a look at how the Raiders might embrace the “T” word now that Adams is in the New York area.  

Raiders need to embrace the tank to find a franchise QB

Manzano’s view: Fact 

In the NFL, you either fully rebuild or go all in to win now. Those who try to do both at once often get stuck in mediocre land, a grueling cycle that’s tough to escape. 

The Raiders learned that the hard way. Las Vegas needs a full rebuild, and it should have started after the team parted with quarterback Derek Carr during the 2023 offseason. Perhaps even sooner, because the team desperately needed a reset after firing Jon Gruden in ’21. Instead, Raiders owner Mark Davis, who has a reputation for head-scratching splash moves, aggressively hired Josh McDaniels and signed off on a trade for Adams to pair with Carr. Adams, Carr and McDaniels are gone, but let’s not go too deep into the times Davis misread his team’s situation or this column might never end.  

Obviously, no team will ever admit to tanking and Raiders coach Antonio Pierce would never go for it. But Davis hired GM Tom Telesco for his experience when he passed on Champ Kelly. It’s time to let Telesco create a viable path to drafting a quarterback early in next year’s first round. This is not to say Telesco bears no fault for how poorly the season has gone for the 2–4 Raiders, because an Adams trade should have happened in the offseason. And a team with no franchise quarterback probably shouldn’t have made splash signings in free agency, like handing Christian Wilkins a four-year, $110 million contract. 

But the damage of not being committed to a full rebuild has been done. Now Davis needs to sit back and give Telesco the green light to acquire more draft picks. Maybe Las Vegas should even consider a trade for star edge rusher Maxx Crosby. That’s a bit extreme, but the defense has been a disappointment this season. 

Last year, Pierce sparked life into the Raiders when he took over as the interim coach, leading to a few wins that knocked the team out of position to potentially draft a top quarterback prospect. This is why they’re stuck with Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O’Connell. 

Now it’s time for Raiders fans to sit back and just take the lumps for the rest of this season. Perhaps a top-five pick in next year’s draft will lead to better days. It did for the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders. Heck, maybe even the New England Patriots, with the flashes Drake Maye showed in his starting debut last week. 

Quietly embrace the tank, Silver and Black. 

Davante Adams’s arrival will hurt Garrett Wilson on the field 

Manzano’s view: Fiction  

I’m not sure how much better the Jets will be now that they have Adams. Sure, they could climb out of this 2–4 hole and take a wild-card spot from a down AFC conference. But the Jets might have simply gone from a non-playoff team to a one-and-done playoff team after the blockbuster trade. 

That’s great for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 13 seasons. The Chiefs, Texans and Ravens seem to be a level above the rest, and the Bills, who just beat the Jets, aren’t too far behind. 

But in the aftermath of the trade, I’m more curious about Wilson’s role in the Jets’ offense. Wilson was starting to become Rodgers’s new Adams, with Wilson topping 100 receiving yards in two consecutive games. 

Wilson seeing 33 targets in back-to-back games might not happen again this season, but now the big-play threat could see more single coverage. Defenses weren’t respecting Allen Lazard and Mike Williams on the field. They’ll definitely pay more attention to Adams now that he has reunited with Rodgers. 

Sure, Rodgers heavily targeted Adams during their final seasons together in Green Bay, but that was because of the lack of depth at wide receiver. Life was easier when Rodgers had Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb in their primes with a young Adams on the field. 

The one concern about this new receiving duo is that they’re both downfield playmakers. Wilson has the speed and Adams has a sizable catch radius. But they’re both excellent route runners and will need to embrace quicker and shorter throws if the offensive line continues to struggle.  

Amari Cooper will help the Bills get to the Super Bowl

Manzano’s view: Fiction 

The Bills quickly countered the Jets’ move for Adams by executing a trade with the Cleveland  Browns for Cooper. 

Yes, the move will help the Bills possibly capture the AFC East crown for the fifth consecutive season, but the trade was more about keeping pace with the Chiefs, Texans and Ravens. Buffalo was lucky to leave New Jersey with a victory thanks to a few doink misses from Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein.

The Bills are stuck in their own category in the AFC after two poor losses to the Ravens and Texans earlier this season. Buffalo is better than the handful of mediocre teams battling for the three wild-card spots, and now the team is closer to competing with the AFC’s big three after acquiring Cooper. 

The Bills aren’t quite there to be labeled as serious contenders to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl LIX because of what they lack on defense. There’s not enough consistency with the pass rushers, and the run defense is a problem after getting punished by Derrick Henry and Breece Hall in recent weeks. They also have a coaching problem. Sean McDermott let one slip away in Houston with poor late-game management, and that hurt the Bills again with Rodgers’s Hail Mary on Monday night.   

But the offense will be better with Cooper. Just last year, Cooper and Joe Flacco torched opposing secondaries to earn a playoff spot in Cleveland. Now that Cooper has left the struggling Deshaun Watson, he’ll be a reliable No. 1 target for Josh Allen. This move will also provide depth, as the team put up poor offensive performances with Khalil Shakir and James Cook sidelined in recent weeks. 

Wilson looks in line to start Pittsburgh's Week 7 game against the New York Jets. / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Steelers will regret benching Justin Fields in favor of Russell Wilson

Manzano’s view: Fact

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been on the better side of mediocre land after qualifying for the playoffs as a wild-card team last season. It didn’t get them far, but hey, they’ve had better results than the Raiders, who are without a legitimate franchise quarterback.  

Pittsburgh created better quarterback options by landing Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. But this is where I’ll stop praising the Steelers. Maybe Fields was never a real option to start because coach Mike Tomlin really wants to see what he has in Wilson, the former Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Wilson is reportedly expected to take first-team reps at practice this week ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Jets.  

It was Wilson’s job to lose throughout the offseason before being sidelined due to a calf injury. Tomlin was forced to turn to Fields and now is leaning toward pulling him, despite a 4–2 record. Maybe Tomlin is tired of mediocrity and this is his way of trying to improve the draft pick. Obviously, that’s not how the Steelers operate—for better or worse. 

Tomlin must view Wilson as the missing piece toward elevating the Steelers from a fringe playoff team into a real threat to the Ravens for the AFC North crown. Tomlin might end up being disappointed if that’s what he’s thinking, because Wilson wasn’t the same dominant quarterback the past two years with the Denver Broncos. It’s been a long time since Wilson won the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. Tomlin might be making a mistake not riding with Fields after a strong six weeks to the season.  

Jerry Jones will fire Mike McCarthy before the season’s over 

Manzano’s view: Fiction 

The ugly losses are starting to get to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after he threatened to fire radio hosts for questioning him about his roster mistakes. 

Jones is losing his patience, but Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy shouldn’t expect to be fired in the coming weeks. Jones tends to be patient with his coaches, as evidenced by giving Jason Garrett nine seasons at the helm.

Jones will likely see this through and allow McCarthy an opportunity to get the Cowboys into the postseason. If he doesn’t, Jones is well aware that Bill Belichick, Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel and many other quality candidates will be available in the offseason. There’s no need to get ahead of the search process.

The Cowboys aren’t as good as last season, but maybe they will sneak into the playoffs. Plus, the NFC East isn’t as good as the NFC North. And maybe not even as good as the NFC South with the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

It’s tough to see a Cowboys playoff berth with a difficult schedule ahead and a lengthy list of on-the-field issues, but it’s too soon to panic, even though Jones is starting to lose his patience.