Early Tuesday morning Ian Rapoport broke the news that Las Vegas Raiders right tackle Trent Brown is expected to be on the move. The New England Patriots are trading to bring Brown back to his former team in a deal that is expected to restructure Brown’s contract to shorten it to a one-year deal, the Raiders are set to receive an undisclosed amount of compensation.
In 2019, the Raiders signed Trent Brown to a 4-year, $66 million contract to become the starting right tackle. Since joining the Raiders in 2019, Brown started a total of 16 games in his two seasons with the Silver and Black as he battled through injuries, arriving to camp overweight, contracting COVID-19 and suffering an air embolism from an improperly administered IV from the Raider team doctor his tenure with the team looked to be nearing an end.
Brown was set to earn $14 million this season if he were to remain on the roster, and as early as last week Raiders general manager Mike Mayock said on a zoom conference that “the jury was still out” on Trent’s status with the team.
Given the significant salary that Trent was set to earn in 2021 and the uncertainty of his playing status as he enters the season, the Raiders made an executive decision to free up the salary cap to peruse a more reliable option.
Raiders reshuffling the deck up front along the offensive line
With the trading of Brown, Las Vegas is completely reshuffling the deck up front along the offensive line. They have already released two starting offensive guards in Gabe Jackson and Richie Incognito, and now that Brown is headed out the door, sixty percent of their starting offensive line from Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season is gone.
Looking ahead, it is clear the Raiders could be in play for an offensive tackle in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, and bringing back Denzelle Good is now a must for them. It has been a wild offseason for the Silver and Black already, with more news to come on this deal.