The Las Vegas Raiders have been the land of competition this offseason thanks to the leadership of new head coach Pete Carroll. General manager John Spytek has been locked in step with the veteran coach as well, adding solid pieces to compete with what the team already had in the building.
Unfortunately, some fan favorites have been the collateral damage of this approach, as the new regime has not been fixated on keeping many players from last year's four-win team. At the beginning of training camp, only one of last year's starters remained from the back half of the defense.
That number changed to zero on Monday night, as the Raiders shockingly traded cornerback Jakorian Bennett to the Philadelphia Eagles. Fortunately, Las Vegas was able to take advantage of a loaded Eagles defense and improve a major area of concern in the trade.
Raiders add Thomas Booker IV to defensive tackle room in surprise trade
In return for Bennett, the Raiders got defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV from Philadelphia. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans, but injuries prevented him from making too much of an impact, and he was waived just over a year later.
He found new life with the Eagles in 2024 after spending the entire 2023 campaign on the practice squad. Booker played in all 17 games last season and recorded 1.0 sack, a pass deflection and 18 tackles, including two for a loss, in just 166 snaps.
At 6-foot-3 and 301 pounds, Booker will be a bit lighter than most of the defensive tackles already in Las Vegas, but he had one of the highest athleticism scores for his position at the 2022 NFL combine. He has also missed just one tackle in 372 career snaps.
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Las Vegas poached two members of the Eagles' front office this offseason. This included Brandon Hunt, the Vice President of Player Personnel, and Anthony Patch, a Senior Personnel Executive. If these two believe that Booker can help the Raiders, there's no reason not to believe them.
Booker was the backup defensive tackle in Philadelphia before being traded, as he was buried below players like Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis. The Eagles felt like they needed another cornerback, and they had a surplus of depth at defensive tackle, so the trade was a match made in heaven.
According to Q Meyers, the feedback that he has received about Booker is overwhelmingly positive. Several sources indicated that he is a constant in the backfield and was dealt simply due to the team having too many defensive tackles, and there were no underlying issues there.
Time will tell if Booker can work his way into a significant role for the Raiders, as Adam Butler and Jonah Laulu seem locked into the starting lineup. However, if he can challenge Leki Fotu, Zachary Carter and the team's duo of rookies, that can only make the team better.