m right where they want them. The draft value chart

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Oakland Raiders are in talks with the Giants about playing their home games next season at Oracle Park in San Francisco.A person with knowledge of the negotiations said Sunday night the two sides are in discussions George Blanda Jersey , but no deal has been reached. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because nothing has been finalized.NBC Bay Area reported that an announcement of the Raiders’ plans to play in San Francisco will be made this week.The Raiders are looking for a home for 2019 after the city of Oakland sued the team and the NFL over the planned move to Las Vegas in 2020. The Raiders has no lease for 2019 and owner Mark Davis dropped out of negotiations with Oakland after the suit was filed in December.The Raiders were still considering Oakland, as well as the possibility of sharing Levi’s Stadium with the San Francisco 49ers. A final decision is needed soon so the NFL can start making its 2019 schedule.“I think the hope of Mark is to continue to be in the Bay Area with the Raiders’ fans,” commissioner Roger Goodell said at a pre-Super Bowl news conference on Wednesday.The Raiders are still planning to practice at their facility in Alameda, making staying in the Bay Area the most logical choice.Davis has always been opposed to sharing the stadium with the 49ers and the legal wrangling with officials in Oakland have soured him on that option, leaving the Giants stadium in San Francisco as his possible preferred choice.But it doesn’t come without hurdles as the 49ers hold territorial rights to the city and the Raiders would need NFL approval to move there. The stadium would also need some modifications to be able to host NFL games and there would be scheduling issues to work out with the Giants, who have home games scheduled on two of first four Sundays of the upcoming NFL season.The stadium has been used for college football games in the past. There have been several bowl games played there and California played its 2011 games there when Memorial Stadium was being renovated. When you need an edge rusher as bad as the Raiders do, reaching for need seems almost inevitable."Every GM preaches drafting the best player available. Some are at least honest enough to admit that need also plays a significant role in that selection. Former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie was one of those who consistently swore the player he selected was the best player on the board, even though the selections were clearly filling needs. Raiders GM Mike Mayock is a bit more upfront about the more practical strategy a GM uses to select certain players — that need is the primary factor.“I’m the son of a coach and I know how coaches think, and coaches think need,” Mayock said in his pre-draft press conference. “And we are a coach-driven building, our coaches are highly involved and that’s good. I embrace that.”I doubt there are many (if any) reading this who isn’t already quite familiar with the Raiders considerable need of edge rushing. The need was so great that it seemed inevitable the team would make a play for one of the top edge rushers in free agency to ensure they didn’t go into the draft in desperation mode at the position.Being desperate at any position ends up calling for desperate measures. “The flip side is you can’t reach,” Mayock continued, “you got to use some common sense and that’s what I preach upstairs. Is that if we are in a situation where if two similarly rated players and one is a higher position of need, great, let’s go get him Jim Plunkett Jersey , but if there is a discount, a disparity between two let’s not reach for need because the more you do that, the more you dilute your roster, and that’s a conversation we’ve had a lot.”It’s a conversation that needed to happen, especially after last year’s draft.In Gruden’s first draft since returning to coaching he passed up on clearly the best player on the board and best safety in the draft Derwin James (twice) to reach for tackle Kolton Miller. Then he traded up in the third round to get small school tackle Brandon Parker. Those reaches bit them in the ass last season and still this offseason tackle was the top priority as they began free agency by making Trent Brown the highest paid offensive lineman in NFL history.With the way most mock drafts are falling, the Raiders are in a precarious position with regard to pass rushers. The top two pass rushers Nick Bosa and Josh Allen are usually gone, and the next tier would be considered a reach at 4. The edge rushers most commonly in that group are Brian Burns, Montez Sweat, and Clelin Ferrell. But by the time they get to pick 24, all those next tier of pass rushers figure to be gone.This will make it tempting to trade up in the first round. The fear with that is teams strong arming the Raiders to force them to give up too much in trade knowing they have them right where they want them. The draft value chart suggests the Raiders could move up into the top 12 while not having to surrender both pick 24 and 27. But if the team they are negotiating with simply stands their ground, and the Raiders know if they don’t make that trade, they will miss out on one of the draft’s top pass rushers, they may be forced to overpay to make the move.The next group of edge rushers are not widely considered first round prospects. But as much draft sense as it makes for the Raiders to not reach for anyone in that group at 24 or 27, it could prove tempting if they are sitting there looking at the risk of going through all three first round selections without addressing the most glaring need on the team.No one knows exactly how the draft will play out. Mayock’s draft board might be very different than those of other teams or draft analysts. It often is. He is also not the one with the final say in who gets drafted. Mayock admits that he is the conservative one and Gruden is more willing to ‘“roll the dice”. Gruden gets antsy and either gives up too much or drafts players higher than they should be taken for fear of not getting his guy or not filling a need. That’s not a good combination when considering the situation the Raiders have put themselves in at edge rusher.Follow @LeviDamien