Raiders: 3 potential Marcus Mariota trades with the Cleveland Browns
If Johnathan Hankins can’t play for an extended period or is forced to take fewer snaps due to his injury, then Las Vegas may want to add a bit more size up front. That was the case this past week, as the team sat Darius Philon for bigger defensive tackles like Damion Square, Solomon Thomas, and Quinton Jefferson.
McDowell is bigger than all of those guys, measuring in at 6’6 and around 295 pounds. That immense size gives him the ability to fill in gaps and stop the run.
McDowell is still a young player too. He is only 25 years old and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks back in 2017. If he shows a good amount of production for Las Vegas, then the team may want to bring him back for another year or two to try and develop his talents even more.
And since he has so much size and a decent amount of power, Las Vegas could use him as a rotational nose tackle on running downs and goal line stands.
McDowell also has a small contract, one worth $660,000 for one year. Dumping off Mariota’s large contract in exchange for a contract that’s worth under a million is a great swap. That on its own almost makes the deal worth it. Because while McDowell isn’t a star player, who would still have the chance to make an impact and would free up a lot of cap.