Raiders trading OT Brown to Pats
Las Vegas sheds tackle’s $14 million contract, receives a 5th-round pick
After going without Trent Brown for half of their games the past two seasons, the Raiders decided Tuesday they’re better off without him by agreeing to trade their high-priced offensive tackle to the New England Patriots.
The Raiders dealt the 6-foot8, 380-pound Brown to the Patriots for a 2022 fifth-round pick, a team source confirmed to the Bay Area News Group. In order to shed Brown’s $14 million salary off their 2021 salary cap, the Raiders also shipped their 2022 seventh-round pick to New England in the trade first reported by NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
The trade ends Brown’s mostly disappointing two-year Raiders career, one that began with tons of promise when the team made him the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman by signing him to a massive, fouryear, $66 million free-agent deal to leave the Patriots in 2019.
Brown was dominant during the 11 games he played with the Raiders in 2019, earning Pro Bowl honors. A torn pectoral muscle sidelined him for five games that season. Things
turned sour for Brown this past season as he dealt with a calf injury, missed time while on the COVID-19 list and had a scary episode when he was hospitalized in Cleveland after a pre-game IV reportedly caused air to enter his bloodstream.
The injuries caused Brown to miss all but five games for the Raiders in 2020, meaning he took the field in just 16 of their 32 games the past two seasons. That’s not a good return on
the $37.3 million the Raiders have invested in Brown.
Now, Brown heads back to New England, where his one-year stay as their left tackle before free agency was the best of his six NFL seasons since being drafted by the 49ers in 2015.
Judging by Brown’s response Tuesday on social media, he’s overjoyed to be leaving the Raiders. He had two years remaining on his contract, but agreed to a restructured one-year, $11 million deal with the Patriots.
“I LOVE IT HERE!!” Brown wrote while tagging the Patriots on his Instagram post Tuesday morning
showing him celebrating with his arms in the air.
Brown also confirmed reports he hadn’t been happy with the Raiders with a Twitter post, “Money don’t mean (expletive) if you ain’t happy I swear to GOD!!”
Raiders general manager Mike Mayock indicated recently the team wasn’t sold on keeping Brown’s heavy contract unless they could count on him each week.
“Trent’s whole thing is when he’s healthy and in shape and ready to go he’s as dominant as any tackle in football,” Mayock told reporters. “He proved that early in the 2019 season. Since then it’s been
kind of a roller coaster ... if Trent gets in shape and stays committed there’s not a better talent out there.”
The numbers back up Mayock’s claim. When he’s been on the field the past two seasons, Brown’s impact has been undeniable. The Raiders have allowed a 24.4 percent pressure rate without Brown as opposed to an 18 percent pressure rate with him on the field, according to NexGen Stats.
But, given Brown’s health issues and his contract, the Raiders obviously weren’t willing to pay the price to see if he’d become a reliable right tackle for them again.