Raiders Ship Jones to Houston : L.A. Gets Oilers’ No. 1 Pick, the Ninth Overall

In a move rife with potential, the Raiders traded defensive end Sean Jones to Houston Thursday for the Oilers’ ninth overall pick in Sunday’s draft.

But potential for what?

Are the Raiders going to keep the pick?

If so, who are they going to take with it?

Are they trying to put together a package for quarterback Jay Schroeder of the Washington Redskins?

Or were they just taking the opportunity to unload a marginally unhappy player for a very high pick?

Who knows? The Raiders were so mysterious about this deal, they didn’t even announce it or acknowledge it, leaving the Oilers to release details in mid-afternoon.

“The deal’s not final,” Raider Coach Mike Shanahan said late Thursday night. “Sean has got to pass a physical.”

Here’s what is known:

--To this point, rumors notwithstanding, there has been no known contact between the Raiders and the Redskins. Washington General Manager Bobby Beathard said the teams didn’t talk Thursday. Two other sources insist they have never talked, period.

--The Raiders were shopping Jones around. They are known to have offered him to the Cleveland Browns--for ace cornerback Frank Minnifield, according to one report. “We were interested if the price was right,” Brown owner Art Modell said, “and the price wasn’t right.”

--There were indications in the best of times that the Raiders were never sky-high on Jones. Before last season, when the 25-year-old Jones was the reigning AFC sack champion, there were Raider officials who said they thought Bob Buczkowski might win the right-end job. Buczkowski, who missed his rookie season with a bad back, also missed most of his sophomore year with assorted injuries. Now, he appears to be the heir apparent.

--Jones may not have been too happy himself. One of his chores last season was to act as the team’s player-representative, and you may remember there was a long, bitter strike.

Since his contract was up, Jones also had to be signed to a new one to make this deal possible.

So, did he ask to be traded?

“I’d rather not answer that question,” Jones said. “It worked out real well.”

Jones’ reaction was anything but the usual stunned, life-must-go-on comments. He laughed, he joked.

“Right now,” he said, “professionally, Sean Jones has gained a lot. Sean Jones and his family have done real well from this. In other words, don’t cry for me.”

There were other details. The Oilers get back the No. 2 pick they traded to the Raiders last season for aging tackle Bruce Davis. The teams will switch picks on the third round, with the Raiders going down 14 spots. The Raiders get Houston’s pick in the fourth round.

The question remains, if the Raiders keep this No. 1 pick, who do they want?

If Oklahoma cornerback Rickey Dixon gets through to them in their own position--sixth overall--they could take him and still have a great chance of landing a top receiver prospect, Michael Irvin. However, the Cincinnati Bengals, drafting ahead of the Raiders, are expected to take Dixon.

If the Raiders get Tim Brown with their first pick, what would they need Irvin for?

Who would they take then?

They’ve acted as if they have no interest in using a first-round pick for any of the draft’s quarterbacks (everyone agrees it’s a lean year), offensive linemen (they think they already have enough big, young players to rebuild), tight ends (they think Keith Jackson is too short), running backs (their situation, with Bo Jackson, is already sort of muddy), defensive linemen (after their try for Neil Smith was thwarted), linebackers (Al Davis is said to be against drafting linebackers that high) or defensive backs (other than Benny Blades and Dixon, both of whom are expected to be gone when they choose).

So as usual, the situation is perfectly unclear. It’s your basic Raider draft week, only more so.