Gareon Conley was a player many Detroit Lions fans, not to mention the scouts employed by the franchise itself, had considerable interest in back in the 2017 NFL Draft process. The cornerback wound up being the first-round pick of the Oakland Raiders.
Jon Gruden didn’t make that selection, however, and the new sheriff in town appears to have no use for Conley. The erstwhile starting CB did not play in the Raiders blowout loss to Seattle in London one week after Conley was benched in another hopeless loss, that one to the Chargers.
There are rumors of Conley being available for trade. Given that Gruden somehow thought his team was better off without Khalil Mack, any rumor about any Raider being available needs to be taken seriously.
Lions GM Bob Quinn absolutely needs to take them seriously. Conley comes with some legit flags. He had a pre-draft peccadillo and then missed almost all his rookie campaign with a shin injury. His benching was not entirely unjustifiable from a football standpoint, either. Conley blew a couple of coverage assignments in the Chargers game and has three missed tackles to balance against 10 made ones on the season.
But he’s a recent consensus first-round talent with plus athleticism and press-man ability. Given the recent injury to Jamal Agnew and the relative lack of faith in Teez Tabor’s development, it’s worth it for Quinn to see what the Raiders might want in return for Conley.
