Raiders: 3 starting-caliber cornerbacks available for Las Vegas to grab

Raiders: 3 starting-caliber cornerbacks available for Las Vegas to grab

Trae Waynes

Waynes is coming off of an injury riddled stint with the Bengals. His last venture with an NFL team was disappointing, but the rest of his professional career has been impressive.

The 29-year-old spent the first five years of his NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings, where he earned the starting job midway through his sophomore season. After that, the rest was history; Waynes held the starting job for the remaining three years with the team, totaling 7 interceptions and 42 pass defenses.

Through his time as a Viking, Pro Football Focus has thought very highly of the first-round draft pick, grading him at least 63.4 each season. In 2017, that grade peeked, earning an impressive mark of 70.9.

From there, Waynes signed a three-year. $42M contract with the Bengals; Unfortunately, things didn’t go how either side had hoped.

It wasn’t that Waynes’s play was poor, but rather he hardly played at all. Before the ’20 season started, the recently-added corner suffered a pectoral injury, which ended his season before it started. The following year, in 2021, Waynes missed the first three weeks of the season with a hamstring injury. After playing in just two contests upon returning, Waynes reinjured his hamstring, missing more time.

Eventually, the veteran cornerback would return, appearing in 3 of the final 4 games for Cincinnati. In March, the Bengals parted ways with Waynes, making him a free agent.

If the Raiders want to add a talented corner to the roster, they could start here. Considering the ’15 draft pick is coming off two injury-riddled seasons in a row, the price shouldn’t be too high. If Waynes isn’t what Las Vegas wants, there are still other great options.