Why the Raiders should trade for NaVorro Bowman
Why Reggie McKenzie and the Oakland Raiders should trade for Niners linebacker NaVorro Bowman.
Reggie McKenzie and the Oakland Raiders tried to address the linebacker position via the draft by selecting Marquel Lee in the fifth round and also via free agency by signing Jelani Jenkins, but middle linebacker is still a glaring hole on defense.
All in all, the positional group is still pretty murky. Even if Lee and Jenkins start, which seems likely at this point, the rest of the unit includes Tyrell Adams, Neiron Ball, Shilique Calhoun, James Cowser, Ben Heeney and Cory James.
Last year, veteran Perry Riley Jr. was signed off the streets in the early parts of the season, and added surprising stability to the group. But he remains unsigned to this point, and it remains to be seen what will happen with him. He wasn’t brilliant by any means, but he was easily the best inside linebacker on the team in 2016.
It’s hard to understand how the linebacker position got so out of hand. McKenzie inherited a mess, but the swings and misses over his tenure in this area have been overwhelming — Miles Burris, Kaelin and Kevin Burnett, Sio Moore, Ray-Ray Armstrong, Curtis Lofton and several others, not to mention practice squad bodies. Nick Roach was solid, but concussion issues ended that.
Interestingly, and not in a good way, the Raiders did not want — or did not want to spend — to keep Lorenzo Alexander and Korey Toomer, who have since gone on to play well elsewhere.
McKenzie was a linebacker. So was Jack Del Rio. It’s baffling that they have not been able to address the issue properly. Maybe there were other fingerprints on it, such as from Dennis Allen or Jason Tarver, and most recently Ken Norton Jr., but still, this regime has failed to bring in a worthwhile player who can stick around for longer than two seasons.
NaVorro Bowman could change that.
Even though it seems as if he’s been in the league forever, he’s actually just 28 years old. So with youth still on his side, trading for Bowman is something McKenzie and the Raiders should strongly consider.
Per Spotrac, his base salary for 2017 is $6.75 million. That’s on the high-end for linebackers and may require some negotiation. But considering that the inept Malcom Smith may get almost as much with incentives, Bowman’s contract does not seem nearly that bad in comparison.
Also, Bowman is a legitimate player with the track record to prove it. He’s a three-time Pro Bowl selection, a four-time and a First-Team All-Pro. With the exception of his rookie year and the season in which he only played in four games due to injury, he has never recorded less than 143 tackles in a single season. When healthy, he’s a tackling machine and is exactly what the Raiders need. He is one of the missing pieces in the defensive puzzle.
In his new role as General Manager of the San Francisco 49ers, John Lynch may have fooled the Chicago Bears on draft day, but his some of his roster rebuilding decisions to this point have been highly questionable. It’s obvious that his mission is to clean house, but if so, what’s the point of signing Malcolm Smith to such a large deal? How can he justify keeping Ray Ray Armstrong around?
The point is that Lynch may not be the savviest of negotiators, save for the deal with Chicago. If McKenzie can work his magic and find a way to not give up too much to acquire Bowman — perhaps a late-round pick — he should jump at that opportunity.
The Niners would get another pick to help with their rebuild and shed some salary while the Raiders would get an instant starter to help put them over the top in their win-now window.
Must Read: Role and expectations for Obi Melifonwu
All in all, trying to land Bowman has its fair share of risky, but if those risks are not all that high, especially considering this regime’s inability to find a suitable player to fill this role, why not take the plunge and trade for Bowman.