3 reasons the Las Vegas Raiders need to trade for Jessie Bates
By Brad Weiss
3 reasons the Las Vegas Raiders need to trade for Jessie Bates
AFC West quarterbacks
This offseason, the Denver Broncos traded for Russell Wilson, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, and a future Hall of Famer. That move means that every team in the AFC West has a top-10 quarterback going into the 2022 season, so you can expect plenty of passing yards coming from these four teams.
For the Raiders, having liabilities in the secondary could be the difference between them actually challenging for an AFC West title, or having the ball thrown all over them in every divisional game. Guys like Wilson, Justin Herbert, and Patrick Mahomes can pick apart defenses at will, and there is enough tape on Johnathan Abram to know how to beat him at this point.
Las Vegas also has question marks at cornerback, something that has been a theme for this organization for years. Adding Bates to a starting tandem that includes Moehrig gives them two very talented safeties and should take some of the pressure off a cornerback group that could struggle at times, especially against the elite quarterbacks in the division.