As currently constructed, the championship-starved Las Vegas Raiders will be entering the 2022 season with three pass-catchers who've registered at least one 100-reception campaign in their NFL careers. Only one other team in NFL history -- the 2010 Baltimore Ravens -- has started a season with a dangerous cast of 100-catch targets, and the Raiders' receiving corps of Davante Adams, Darren Waller, and Hunter Renfrow should wreak havoc on defenders.
But there's some speculation that Las Vegas' trio might not play a single snap together. According to a report from CheeseheadTV co-founder Aaron Nagler, the Green Bay Packers have discussed a potential trade involving Waller, who recorded the third-most targets by a tight end last season. With the NFL Draft beginning on Thursday, rumors can run rampant. But ProFootballTalk reporter Mike Florio doesn't believe that Las Vegas has any interest in moving Waller.
"All due respect to Aaron Nagler, I don't know what he's ever reported in the past. I don't know what kind of track record he has. So, I'm going to choose to be skeptical of this one until someone else reports it," Florio explained to The Zach Gelb Show on Monday. "I don't know why they'd trade Waller back to the Packers after they traded for Adams, unless something had gone down in the early stages of the offseason to alienate Waller from the front office.
"It just makes no sense. You're looking to move Waller, you make him part of the trade package that brings Adams to Las Vegas, in the first place. I'm just curious to see if there's any truth to it, or whether or not the Packers are just trying to create the impression they're trying to do something, to address the receiving corps in a time where they've done jack diddly squat to make it as good as it needs to be for Aaron Rodgers."
Waller, who missed six games last season due to back and knee injuries and a positive COVID-19 test, racked up 55 catches (93 targets) for 665 yards with two touchdowns. In 2020, he earned Pro Bowl honors by recording a career-best 1,196 receiving yards on 107 receptions with nine scores. Waller will turn 30 in September, and his current contract with the Raiders has two years left ($6.8 million cap hit in 2022) with no guaranteed money.
If a trade with the Packers isn't completed, Waller will once again see passes from Raiders veteran Derek Carr. The 31-year-old quarterback recently signed a contract extension worth $121 million, which runs through the 2025 season. In 2021, Carr amassed a career-high 4,804 passing yards with 23 touchdowns in 17 games. But, he also logged 14 interceptions, and was sacked 40 times -- the second-highest mark of his eight-year career.
The entire NFL conversation between Florio and Gelb can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The Zach Gelb Show on Twitter @ZachGelb and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.