INDIANAPOLIS — Much to the chagrin of New York Jets fans who continue to try and wish into reality their team trading for Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams, new Las Vegas general manager Tom Telesco was asked at Tuesday’s NFL Combine directly of how he’d respond if a team called him about the all-world wideout’s trade availability.
“I’d tell them he’s a Raider,” Telesco said.
That’s it. Simple and straightforward. The Raiders are not interested in trading their top pass-catcher.
Telesco covered a wide variety of subjects during his press conference at the NFL Combine including talking at length about his process for looking for players to fill the roster. The Raiders have several key needs on both sides of the ball but it’s the quarterback position that observers are watching.
Related: 5 Las Vegas Raiders draft targets to watch at NFL Combine
What Tom Telesco and the Las Vegas Raiders are looking for in a young quarterback
Despite a yeoman’s like performance from rookie Aidan O’Connell in 2023, the Raiders have made it clear they’re looking for possibly two quarterbacks to come in and compete with him. With a quarterback rich draft up this year, eyes are on the deep class at the annual NFL evaluation event.
When asked the most important traits he’ll be looking for when evaluating young quarterbacks, Telesco focused on two — none of which were about arm strength or mobility.
“For me, it’s probably leadership and toughness,” Telesco said. “He’s gotta be somebody that when you’re in the huddle, and those other players are looking you in the eyes, that you can lead that group.”
Telesco also said physical abilities, of course, matter but so does preparation.
“Preparation skills for that position are like no other in professional sports,” Telesco said.
The Raiders have the 13th overall pick but reportedly want to be aggressive to try and trade up in April’s NFL Draft.
“Trade up, down, wherever,” Telesco said on Tuesday.
Related: 2024 NFL Draft QB rankings
Telesco: Las Vegas Raiders current roster lauded for their toughness
What Tom Telesco has learned about the Las Vegas Raiders’ current roster isn’t surprising for those paying attention after head coach Antonio Pierce took over in Week 9 of last season. You often hear the cliche about teams taking on the persona of their coach. But in the case of the Las Vegas Raiders, it’s more than that.
“I think the one thing that jumped off in doing a deeper dive is how tough a football team it was,” Telesco said of the 2023 Raiders who finished 8-9, going 5-4 under Pierce. “A really tough-minded, mentally tough football team.”
Telesco said he saw signs of those traits in all three phases of the Raiders game but admitted the team had “a lot of work to do on offense.”
Despite Pierce being a first-time head coach, Telesco said he really enjoyed watching him take his time filling out his coaching staff. Telesco said he talked to numerous candidates for each position but never hurried into a decision instead wanting to make sure he made the right choice, taking his time and not feeling rushed.
“I thought it was really, really neat watching him go through the process of hiring the assistant coaches,” Telesco said. “I’ve gone through that process before and sometimes it gets a little hectic…you do a little bit too quickly where you hire a good coach but maybe doesn’t necessarily fit either the vision or philosophy you’re looking for. He really took his time, he talked to a lot of people, and did a lot of research to get a lot of opinions and took his time doing it.”