The Las Vegas Raiders traded Tyree Wilson to the Saints, but he'll be on a short leash after his Raiders experience.
The Las Vegas Raiders punted on former number-one pick Tyree Wilson last week, but the edge rusher will now get a limited second chance with the New Orleans Saints, according to a report from Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.
The Raiders made Wilson the seventh overall pick in the 2023 draft, but he never provided anything close to the kind of production that would have justified the selection, so Las Vegas dealt him to the Saints for a pair of picks in last week’s draft. Wilson made just seven starts for the Raiders in his first three seasons, and last year he had just four sacks to go with eight tackles for loss and six quarterback hits.
New Orleans is getting a distressed asset, and they know it. Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley says he has a “vision” for how Wilson can fit into the Saints defense, according to Alper. But GM Mickey Loomis was much more specific in his assessment of Wilson’s prospects when he issued a terse comment about the edge rusher's future.
“It’s a one-year trial and we’ll see how it goes,” Loomis said.
That’s standard fare for a player in Wilson’s situation, but it does confirm that the Saints almost certainly won’t be picking up Wilson’s fifth-year option, which would have guaranteed him $14.475 million in 2027, the writer added. A big year could set the edge rusher up for a serious payday, but the Raiders couldn’t find a way to get Wilson to perform up to his draft status.
Meanwhile, the Raiders have moved on in a big way. They still have defensive end Maxx Crosby in the fold after the Baltimore Ravens rescinded the trade that would have sent Crosby to Baltimore, and the Raiders have signed multiple players in free agency who can provide a pass rush, either from the edge or up the middle.
Those player include linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker, along with edge rusher Kwity Paye. Wilson became the odd man out in that lineup, and the trade was anything but unexpected.
The Raiders also didn’t add much to their pass rush last week in the draft, either. They did pick up defensive end Keyron Crawford from Auburn in the third round, but Crawford will have to have an incredible camp to get any significant amount of playing team. Wilson will be moving on, and he has an uphill climb to make to erase his current label as a bust.