It wasn’t a big surprise that the Raiders decided to trade third-year cornerback Jakorian Bennett, but some would say the Raiders didn’t get the best trade return for a player who was arguably the best cornerback on the team a year ago.
Not many fans are familiar with former Eagles defensive tackle Thomas Booker, who came to the Raiders in the Bennett trade, but the hope in Las Vegas is that he simply needs a better opportunity than what the Eagles were offering him.
Booker was a fifth-round pick by the Houston Texans in 2022 and played only 166 defensive snaps for the Eagles a year ago. In those snaps, Booker achieved the second-lowest Pro Football Focus grade on the Philadelphia roster in 2024.
If Booker becomes an impact player in 2025, credit Raiders GM John Spytek for uncovering a gem because right now Booker is a relative unknown – seemingly even among Eagles fans.
One individual that is high on Booker, though, is apparently one of his former teammates in Philadelphia.
Popular podcast host Graphk Raider shared a message from a friend who did a commercial with All Pro offensive tackle Lane Johnson, who played with Booker last year.
According to the message, Johnson believes Booker will eventually be a Pro Bowl caliber player.
“I just produced a USAA spot in New Jersey, a commercial with Lane Johnson. Lane says this dude Thomas Booker will be a Pro Bowler in a couple of years, just an FYI. He went on to say, he said ‘Dude is a beast, has all the tools, and if he keeps working and coached up right… he will be a Pro Bowler in the next few seasons.”
For what it’s worth, Booker has only one year left on his contract and will become a restricted free agent after the 2025 season, according to Spotrac.
x: @raidersbeat
I see practice squad in his future. How many times did Johnson even go up against Booker? You were right to point out the value was terrible. Booker is the kind of hungry player we need but to give up a starting CB talent in Bennett in a one for one deal is ludicrous. Howie continues to show the Raiders and the rest of the league what it’s like to roster build.
Well, if you say so, and you certainly know him better than one of his former teammates, you can definitely trust it 🤣🤣
Not to mention that we’ve had Patch join the management team as a senior personnel executive for a few months now. He’s been with the Eagles for over 20 years and was GM Roseman’s right-hand man. But you certainly have a more accurate assessment of him from your couch at home. Then calling Bennett a starter this year means you didn’t even follow camp and practices at all, given that he was barely the third or fourth CB! If you didn’t trade him for someone, you’d end up cutting him, so it’s a good thing we got a solid DT after losing Wilkins and being lacking at the position! Then if Bennett makes a baby for the Eagles, I’ll be happy for him. He was on the fringes with us, and even if he remained a rotation DT for us, he’d still be more useful than Bennett. I’ll conclude by saying that it’s one thing to be a rotation DT on what was by far the strongest defense in the league, which thrashed Mahomes throughout the SB. and it’s one thing to be a starter in a team that finished the season with only 4 wins.
Hey Nation, I think every raider player is expendable!! Not a one of them should be comfortable in their shoes! Every indian should believe he has something to prove because this team has been TERRIBLE for at least 20-25 years!! Trading Bennett was nothing. Picking up the other guy was nothing. We got a long ways to go and we will see how far starting tomorrow night at 7:00 pm