Raiders: Marcus Mariota trade packages for the New England Patriots

Raiders and New England Patriots: Trade No. 3

If the Patriots prefer to keep their locker-room leader and starting safety Devin McCourty, the Raiders could try to acquire Adrian Phillips and a fifth-round pick.

Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and Phillips have a past history. The versatile safety had a solid role under the play-caller between the 2017 and 2019 campaigns with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Bradley gave Phillips high praise at the end of the 2018 season (h/t Ricky Henne of the Chargers’ official website).

"“He’s extremely intelligent. He can play strong safety, free safety, dime and nickel for us, and we’d feel extremely comfortable if he was in any of those positions. So that intelligence (is impressive). He’s got a football IQ that is, to say compare him to anybody, he’s just one of the most elite guys in that area that I’ve ever been around.”"

The Raiders can pluck Phillips from the Patriots roster and plug him directly into Bradley’s defense in the upcoming season. At 28 years old, he’s an experienced veteran who’s not past his prime and capable of playing multiple roles.

Phillips would essentially become the glue-guy for the Raiders’ defense. He can play in the nickel and dime packages or fill in at both safety spots. This past season, the Patriots used him as a subpackage linebacker.

Lastly, we cannot ignore Johnathan Abram’s injury history. As a rookie, he missed all but one game because of a torn labrum. In 2020, the hard-hitting safety only sat out three outings, but on several occasions, he had to exit the game because of bumps and bruises.

At any point, Abram’s aggressive playstyle could take him out of a game. Phillips would be equipped to line up in the box, supplement the run defense and clean up behind the defensive front. In 2020, he led the Patriots in tackles (109 with seven for loss) and only missed six (5.2 percent miss rate). Meanwhile, Abram whiffed on 13 tackles (13.1 percent miss rate).