The Oakland Raiders have made another blockbuster move, trading wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys. It’s the second time this season that the Raiders have moved a star player for a first-round pick. Heading into the 2019 draft, the Raiders will have three first-round picks. If the season ended today, the Raiders would own the Nos. 4, 9 and 15 picks in the draft, according to Tankathon. With the Raiders having five first-round picks over the next two seasons, head coach Jon Gruden will be able to build his team however he sees fit. The Raiders may be bad this season, but they are going to have a whole lot of draft assets to use over the next few seasons.<doc-sep>Say what you want about the start to Jon Gruden's second tenure with the Raiders, but the polarizing coach-turned-commentator-turned-coach-again has done an amazing job acquiring early draft picks from other teams. Somehow, Gruden got a first-round pick from the Cowboys for Amari Cooper, a super-talented but super-inconsistent 24-year-old with a $13.9 million cap hit next season. And for as fun as free agency can be, we all know championship-caliber clubs are built through the draft. If this is possible, for a few minutes totally ignore the players Gruden has sent packing so we can dive into the embarrassment of riches the Raiders head coach now has on the draft front and identify potential prospects he could (and should) select with the team's three first-round picks in 2019. (Before I begin: While I absolutely would've paid Khalil Mack anywhere between $20M-$25m per season, the idea for Gruden to look at his 2018 roster, start somewhat of a fire sale to gain valuable draft capital and sign older, cheaper players to one-year contracts to free cap space in the future isn't crazy and just might ultimately work.) Pick No. 1-5 Overall Right now, the 1-5 Raiders are projected by SportsLine to win the third-fewest amount of games in the NFL this season (four). The 1-6 Cardinals (3.7 wins) and 1-6 49ers (3.8) are the two teams currently with lower projected win totals. Unless the Raiders go on a unbelievable second-half-of-the-season run, it's safe to assume they'll be picking somewhere in the top 5 of the 2019 Draft. What Raiders should look for With Khalil Mack now wreaking havoc for the Bears, the Raiders need an alpha pass-rusher on the outside. Even the casual NFL fan knows that. Picking the top 5 means you have a lot of work to do personnel-wise and you need to pick a high-caliber player at a premium position. While defensive tackle isn't a classic, high-value position, with the way the NFL is centered around the quick-passing game, the defenders closer to the ball are becoming more vital to defenses every year. (With Jason La Canfora's sources telling him of Justin Herbert "it is far more likely that the junior actually remains in school for another year," along with my hunch that Oakland will hang onto Derek Carr, I'm leaving quarterback off the radar for the Raiders for now.) Pick Candidates Nick Bosa, DE, Ohio State - This is the slam-dunk no-brainer for the Raiders. He's the most NFL-ready pass-rusher since ... his brother in 2016 and has All-Pro potential. He'd instantly slot into the gigantic hole left by Mack's departure and boost Oakland's league-worst pass-rushing unit. His core injury should be fully healed by the pre-draft process. Ed Oliver, DT, Houston - Oliver has a decent chance to be a Raider in 2019. Hear me out on this. While roaming the sidelines in Tampa Bay, Gruden coached Warren Sapp, an "undersized," lightning quick defensive tackle who'd eventually make the Hall of Fame. I won't call Oliver the next Sapp, but he's the most athletically impressive defensive tackle to enter the NFL since Aaron Donald in 2014, a player on track to, like Sapp, make the Hall of Fame as a one-gapping backfield disruptor. Yes, the Raiders drafted pass-rushing defensive tackle Maurice Hurst and P.J. Hall in 2018, but if Bosa's gone when the Raiders go on the clock, I think Oliver should and will be in play. Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson - If Bosa and Oliver are off the board when the Raiders make their first pick in the 2019 Draft, Ferrell would certainly be a viable option. The long, well-built defensive end has steadily improved during his Clemson career and has started to flash pass-rushing moves more often to go along with a solid speed-to-power bull-rush and bend around the corner. To date, Ferrell has 41 tackles for loss and 21.5 sacks since the start of 2016. Pick No. 13-19 Overall After their three-point loss to the Redskins in Week 7, the Cowboys are slated to finish the season with eight wins, which right now equates to the No. 15 overall pick. Because eight wins wouldn't get Dallas into the playoffs, the latest their pick -- which is now the Raiders selection -- could be is No. 19 overall. What the Raiders should look for There's more leeway in regards to positional value as you move into the middle portions of the first round. The Raiders have a myriad of holes on the defensive side of the football that will disallow them from staying competitive even if they build a dynamic offense again. Two of the four cornerbacks who've currently played the most snaps for the Raiders thus far -- Leon Hall and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie -- are already in their 30s. Rashaan Melvin will be 30 next October. That's a need. So is safety with 2017 second-round pick Obi Melifonwu already waived and 2016 first-rounder Karl Joseph closer to being a bust than a player worthy of a contract extension. Game-changing safeties aren't easy to find, but the teams that have them typically thrive stopping the pass. Now that Cooper's gone, Jordy Nelson and Seth Roberts are the only Raider receivers under contract for 2019. Carr -- or whoever's playing quarterback for the Raiders in 2019 -- needs a larger arsenal of wideouts, and that position is now highly valuable in today's NFL, seemingly a necessity to field a championship-level team. Pick Candidates Devin White, LB, LSU - It's not as obvious as defensive end, but Oakland has a glaring need at off-ball linebacker. And again mentioning Gruden's past, he did coach Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks, one of most athletic linebackers in NFL history. Like with the Oliver-Sapp comparison, I'm not labeling White as the next coming of Brooks, but there are similarities between the two. White's a twitchy, ultra-aggressive linebacker who, as a 20 year old, probably has his best football in front of him. He's a little slow reacting to his keys and is a liability as a tackler but plays with his hair on fire. I think Gruden would love what White brings to the field. Brian Burns, DE, Florida State - If the Raiders aren't able to snag on an outside-rusher with their first of three Round 1 selections in 2019, Burns would be one heck of a consolation prize here. According to Pro Football Focus, the angular Florida State defender leads the nation with 46 quarterback pressures, and, like White, is theoretically a high upside prospect at just 20 years old. He routinely wins with a scary combination of burst, dip, and bend to the quarterback and has tentacles for arms. With more weight and power, he can be a dominant defensive end in the NFL. Deionte Thompson, S, Alabama - This is partially a byproduct of the lack of pass-rush, but the Raiders only have four interceptions in six games, and 35-year-old safety Reggie Nelson has one of those picks. Thompson is the top safety prospect in this class and very versatile. Despite his lanky frame, he delivers big hits on running backs often and has awesome range from center field. Amani Oruwariye, CB, Penn State - After Greedy Williams and Deandre Baker, Oruwariye will be in a fight with few others to be the third cornerback taken in the 2019 Draft. Blessed with explosiveness and fluid athleticism, the 6-foot-2 Penn State corner glides across the field and has the length and athletic talent to make plays on the football with impressive regularity. N'Keal Harry, WR, Arizona State - Harry has been a productive receiver since his true freshman season at Arizona State and though he's mostly known for his size and awesome contested-catch ability, he has open-field wiggle and deceptive long speed. Per PFF, Harry has forced the 13th-most missed tackles after the catch in the nation at 6-foot-4 and 213 pounds. Pick No. 19-24 Overall The Bears' win-total project by SportsLine currently sits at 8.5, which would give the Raiders the No. 19 overall pick in the 2019 Draft.<doc-sep>If the season ended today, the Oakland Raiders would have the No. 5 overall pick in the first round next April, as well as seven other selections to bolster the roster. The Oakland Raiders have gotten out to a very slow start to the 2018 NFL season, winning only one of their six games, and taking overtime to do so. This is not what was expected of this season when the team got Jon Gruden to come out of retirement, but here we are, staring at a top pick in next April’s NFL Draft. If the season ended today, the Raiders would be picking at No. 5 overall in the first round, and they need to fill the need for an edge rusher. Prior to the 2018 campaign, the team traded away star edge rusher Khalil Mack, and thanks to that trade, they have gotten literally zero push all season long. There are plenty of holes to fill on this roster, as they have struggled to play consistent football on both sides of the ball. There are also rumors that nearly the entire roster is on the trading block, so this team could look a lot different by the time the end of the season rolls around. Here is an early look at the Raiders collection of draft picks for next April, and who they could take with each selection.<doc-sep>
The Dallas Cowboys badly need wide receiver help for Dak Prescott and they are not sitting on their laurels at the trade deadline, going up top by acquiring Amari Cooper from the Raiders, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora confirmed. Oakland is in the middle of a disastrous season and has made no bones about putting everyone on the trade block. According to previous reports, Cooper was available and the Raiders were hoping to get a first-round pick in return. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Raiders actually GOT the first-round pick back, as Dallas was apparently willing to give up their first rounder in exchange for Cooper. This is insanity. Cooper was taken with a first-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft by the Raiders and proceeded to put up huge numbers in his first two seasons. The last two years have been huge disappointments and Cooper's been all over the map this year, with two games over 115 receiving yards and four games with under 40 receiving yards. Cooper suffered a concussion against the Seahawks in London during a Week 6 debacle, but none of that was enough to deter the desperate Cowboys from dealing a first-round pick in exchange for him. Dallas fell to 3-4 with a loss to the Redskins on Sunday, and perhaps Jerry Jones is less interested in putting the blame on Jason Garrett for his conservative play calling and more interested in putting the blame on himself for not surrounding Prescott with the necessary talent. Adding someone like Cooper certainly goes a long way towards helping out, but this is a weird situation from a contract perspective. Cooper is in the final year of his original rookie contract in 2018. Next year he'll be under the fifth-year option, which will cost the Cowboys $13 million. At some point in between now and the end of the 2019 season, Cooper is going to want a long-term contract. The Cowboys basically just admitted they plan on giving it to him by coughing up a first-round pick for the former Alabama wide receiver. It's very reminiscent of the Roy Williams trade the Cowboys pulled off nearly 10 years ago to the day. On Oct. 14, 2008, Dallas coughed up a bunch of draft picks in order to acquire Williams from the Lions, including a future first-round pick. Jones was the architect of that deal too, believing his team was one receiver away from going over the top. Jones later said how much he regretted the move, which ended up with the Cowboys giving Williams a $54 million extension. Dallas certainly hopes Cooper works out better. From the Raiders' perspective, it feels weird to credit Jon Gruden for completely gutting his roster, because Oakland is going to STINK out loud the rest of this season. But he's getting a lot back in exchange for the players he's shipping out. The Raiders now have FIVE first-round picks in the next two seasons, setting them up to control the draft. If the goal is to be peaking when you get to Las Vegas, or at least find yourself with lots of young players on your roster, Gruden is putting himself in pretty good position with these moves. Getting rid of Khalil Mack and Cooper isn't the most advisable plan to win football games, but having the security of a 10-year, $100 million contract certainly gives you the flexibility to make moves for the long term.