The trade the Las Vegas Raiders tried to make with their star defensive end had an effect up and down the draft board.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ attempt to trade defensive end Maxx Crosby reverberated across the NFL, and the impact went way beyond rumors and scuttlebutt. According to an article written by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk via The Pat McAfee Show, Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM Jason Licht said the failed trade actually helped his team a little.
Licht shed some light on how this happened, according to Alper, as the Bucs were able to take edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. with the 15th overall pick after Bain slid down the draft board. The GM said they might not have landed Bain if the trade hadn’t gone through.
The logic he employed was that the Raiders would have landed the Baltimore Ravens 14th pick if the trade had happened, and in that scenario Raiders GM John Spytek would have had an obvious need for a pass rusher.
The Raiders had already signed Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum before the period when the trade was set to go through, which meant the Ravens would have had an acute need at offensive line. Baltimore didn’t have as big a need for an edge rusher going into the draft after signing Trey Hendrickson, so guard Vega Ioane became their choice.
“Then I think going back to free agency when, you know, the Raiders-Ravens trade didn’t work out,” Licht explained. “I think that in some way I’d like to think helped us a little bit. I was a little afraid if the Raiders made that trade, Spytek, he and I are very close, he was taunting me a little bit, hey, we’re sitting right in front of you, I know what you need.”
The rescinded trade changed the need dynamic completely, according to Licht.
“And then, you know, Crosby goes back to the Raiders, then the Ravens are sitting there again with their pick, and I know they love their edge rushers, too, so that had me nervous,” the GM continued. “They took Vega, which is an awesome pick, you know, they need offensive linemen. Maybe the fact that the Raiders signed Linderbaum helped us get Rueben. We’re all trying to help each other out here, especially the people that are good friends, so thanks, Spytek.”
The tongue-in-cheek part of this aside, most of the logic makes sense, although there are a lot of moving parts and pieces involved in what happened. Licht added that the Bucs were in on Hendrickson “a little bit” before he agreed to terms with Baltimore, but they way it came together left them with what he called a “shiny new toy” at the top of the draft.
As for Bain, he remains a gamble. He took some heat for his short arms as a top ten possibility, but he makes sense for Tampa Bay given their draft position, especially if he pans out and produces solid sack numbers for the Bucs this season.