Just before the start of the 2020 regular season, the Miami Dolphins made some noise with some staffing decisions shaking up the established order of the team’s defensive depth map – most prominent among them was the decision to trade veteran linebacker Raekwon McMillan for the Las Vegas. Raiders.
The Dolphins sent McMillan, a fourth-year veteran entering a contract year, and a 2021 5th round to the Raiders for a 2021 4th round – that same roster was sent back to the Las Vegas Raiders in the days that followed. in a second, separate deal involving rookie wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. was involved. In total, the Dolphins trade came about between both trades as follows:
Miami receives:
Rookie WR Lynn Bowden Jr.
2021 6th round design selection
Las Vegas receives:
2021 5th round selection
LB Raekwon McMillan
The decision to trade McMillan put some springs to the Dolphins’ fan base, complaining about the decision to part with a physical defender who had developed into a strong presence between the tackles. But Miami had other plans for that role, opting to shift its representatives there to LB Elandon Roberts. And when Roberts started the season slow and the Dolphins gave in to the New England Patriots 217 rushing yards in Week 1, there was a general sense of concern that the Dolphins had made a mistake.
But upon closer examination, the Dolphins are the clear winners of this exchange – and hope to claim a second win against the Raiders by logging one onto the football field on Saturday night.
The design choices exchanged here are insignificant – they serve as proverbial lottery tickets that are unlikely to bear significant fruit. But between McMillan and Bowden Jr .; which player would you rather have? McMillan, who still has to play this off-season, has played just 77 defensive snaps for the Raiders in the first 15 games of the season. Only two games this season have seen him log more than 10 defensive snaps (including a season-high 28 defensive snaps last week).
Or you can be the player with whom the dolphins left the exchange in Bowden Jr; a talented upstart playmaker who has also put a fair amount of time into the line-up; but yielded much better results. The rookie has accounted for 191 yards of scrimmage for the past three games, registering nearly as many foul shots in the past week alone as McMillan has defended for the Raiders all season.
If you add, Bowden is a player who will be under contract for three more seasons after 2020 and it is clear that Miami has drawn the right strings in their dealings with the Raiders. And as motivated as Raekwon McMillan may be to make his old team pay for trading him this summer, you can bet Bowden Jr. also ready to get a little extra in his game on Saturday night after the Raiders just traded him. months after drafting him in the 3rd round of the 2020 NFL Draft.