Just before the start of the 2020 regular season, the Miami Dolphins made some noise with some staff decisions that shook the established order of the team’s defensive depth chart – the most prominent of which was the decision to change Raekwon McMillan to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Dolphins sent RaMasters, a fourth-year veteran entering a one-year contract and a 521 round 2021 pick to the Raiders for a 2021 round 4 pick – the same selection was sent back to the Las Vegas Raiders in the next few days in a second separate deal involving rookie receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. In total, the Dolphins swap materialized between the two transactions as follows:
Miami receives:
Rookie WR Lynn Bowden Jr.
2021 Selection of the tour project 6
Las Vegas receives:
2021 Selection of the 5th round
LB Raekwon McMillan
The decision to change McMillan shook some feathers based on Dolphins fans, lamenting the decision to break up with a physically running defender who had developed into a strong presence between attacks. But Miami had other plans for the role, instead of choosing to leave its LB Elandon Roberts representatives there. And when Roberts started the season slowly and the Dolphins gave up 217 rushing yards in Week 1 to the New England Patriots, there was a general sense of concern that the Dolphins had made a mistake.
But after further analysis, the Dolphins are the clear winners of this exchange – and hope to get a second victory against the Raiders by logging one on the football field on Saturday night.
The draft elections changed here are inconsequential – they serve as proverbial lottery tickets that are unlikely to bear significant fruit. But between McMillan and Bowden Jr .; which player would you prefer to have? McMillan, who is still due for free agency this season, played only 77 defensive shots for the Raiders in the first 15 games of the season. Only two games this season have seen him record more than 10 defensive shots (including a maximum of 28 defensive shots last week).
Or, alternatively, you can have the player with whom the Dolphins left the exchanges in Bowden Jr .; a talented newcomer who also took a fair share of time working in line; but it gave much better results. Rookie has outscored 191 yards in the last three games and recorded nearly as many offensive snaps just last week (65) as McMillan recorded for the Raiders all season.
When you add to Bowden, a player who will be under contract for another three seasons after 2020 ends and it is clear that Miami has pulled the right strings in their relationship with the Raiders. And no matter how motivated Raekwon McMillan is to make his old team pay for his trading this summer, you can be sure that Bowden Jr. is also ready to have a little extra in his game on Saturday night after what the Raiders changed him just a few months after recruiting him in round 3 of the NFL 2020 draft.