Las Vegas Raiders training camp is quickly approaching. The official start of the team’s 2023 NFL season will start on July 25 (July 20 for rookies) at Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada. As head coach Josh McDaniels and the coaching staff start pairing down the roster and figuring out the depth chart for the upcoming season, there are a few veterans who may be surplus to requirements. And while these players may not be in Vegas’ plans, they do still have value to other NFL teams. That’s why Chandler Jones, Austin Hooper, and Bilal Nichols are three potential Raiders trade candidates entering 2023 training camp.

DE Chandler Jones

Chandler Jones wasn’t just the most disappointing Raiders' free agent signing last season. He may have been the most disappointing in the league. The All-Pro pass rusher signed a three-year, $51,000,000 deal with $32,000,000 guaranteed last offseason.

And what did the Raiders get for that money? They got just 4.5 sacks.

Jones’ counterpart, Maxx Crosby, has become one of the most feared pass rushers in the league, and he needs a teammate across the line from him to take some of the pressure off. To that end, the Raiders drafted Texas Tech DE Tyree Wilson.

In addition to Crosby and Wilson, Las Vegas also has Jordan Willis, Malcolm Koonce, Adam Plant Jr., and George Tarlas at the position heading into Raiders training camp.

NFL teams can never have enough quality pass rushers, so the team will likely keep Jones this offseason. However, he could fetch a pretty good price on the trade market, so if Wilson bursts onto the scene and looks like an immediate superstar, there is an outside chance that Chandler Jones could become a Raiders trade candidate.

TE Austin Hooper

In the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Las Vegas got an absolute steal in Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer. The former Fighting Irish pass catcher was the top TE on many draft boards, but because of the depth of the prospects at the position, he slipped to Round 2.

This offseason, after trading star TE Darren Waller, the Raiders signed veteran TE Austin Hooper to a one-year, $2,750,000 pact.

If Meyer wins the starting job — which is more than likely heading into Raiders training camp — then Hooper may start to become expendable. Then the big question is, will either OJ Howard or Jesper Horsted step up and take the Nos. 2 and 3 slots?

Howard is a veteran TE who has never quite lived up to his potential, and Horsted is an intriguing prospect who actually played wide receiver at Princeton.

If Josh McDaniels and his offensive staff think that Howard and Horsted can get close to the production that Austin Hooper offers (assuming Mayer wins the starting job), then making a deal to get something in return for their recently-signed free agent will make a lot of sense. And Howard usually offers just about the same numbers as Hooper, so this is a more realistic Raiders trade that could go down during training camp.

DT Bilal Nichols

Going back to the defensive line and disappointing free agents, Bilal Nichols falls into that category. His free agent deal to come to Las Vegas from the Chicago Bears wasn’t quite as big as the Chandler Jones contract, but at two years and $11,000,000, it’s nothing to sneeze at.

And like Jones, Nichols didn’t produce last year like he did in years prior. In 2023, Nichols had just 1.5 sacks with four tackles for a loss. That’s why it’s no surprise that the Raiders went heavy along the D-line in this year’s draft.

Vegas spent its third- and seventh-round picks on defensive tackles, taking Alabama DT Byron Jones in Round 3 and Arizona State DT Nesta Jade Silvera in Round 7. Those two give the Raiders a glut at the position heading into training camp.

Jerry Tillery, Neil Farrell Jr., John Jenkins, Adam Butler, and Matthew Butler are all on the roster, along with Nichols, Silvera, and Young. That means someone has to go, and instead of cutting a cheaper option, trading Bilal Nichols could make sense.

Ideally, if the Raiders traded someone on this list it would be Tillery or Farrell. However, the truth is that with his past performance with the Bears, Nichols has the most value on the trade market.

He’s not going to bring back a ton, but a fourth or fifth-round pick isn’t entirely out of the question, while the others would likely only bring back a sixth or seventh if anything.

As for the probability of this Bilal Nichols-Raiders trade happening, it falls somewhere between the Chandler Jones and Austin Hooper likelihoods.