The Las Vegas Raiders have been busy the last few days making some highly publicized moves. One of those transactions was trading away Trayvon Mullen to the Arizona Cardinals. The question is, how will this trade be looked back upon?
Mullen, a second-round pick in this year’s draft class, had initially shown a lot of promise and potential. However, as is the case with so many players, health ended up being his undoing. After playing in his first 32 regular season games, Mullen only appeared in five last year. This offseason also got off to a bad start for Mullen as he required surgery, forcing him to miss much of the team’s activities and only returning for the final phase of camp.
While speaking with the media yesterday, head coach Josh McDaniels was asked regarding the decision to move on from Mullen.
“Just trying to do what we think is the best for the team at this point in time. We’ve had some guys that have shown up at that position and really done some good things. Sam [Webb] is one of them. Hard choices sometimes you have to make based on total numbers and what you’re going to keep at a certain spot, but just felt like it was an opportunity for us to add something. He’ll have a fresh start in Arizona, and again, wish him the best of luck too.”
Trayvon Mullen gets a fresh start with the Arizona Cardinals
Obviously, this wasn’t a personal decision for McDaniels and Co. Mullen’s track record is shaky after last season. He was expected by fans and many in the media to be a starter and a key contributor in Patrick Graham’s defense. Regrettably, that won’t be the case. However, on the flip side, the Cardinals were in need of more defensive backs, which worked out well for Mullen. He’ll likely start opposite of Marco Wilson and should be able to make the most of his new surroundings. As for the Raiders, it’s clear that the coaching staff felt confident enough to go with the cornerback group of Sam Webb, Nate Hobbs, Anthony Averett, Amik Robertson, and Rock Ya-Sin.
If Mullen gets back to his 2019-2020 form and the Raiders’ secondary struggles continue, questions will certainly arise if the trade was a wise choice. Unless the coaching staff knows something that fans don’t (which is extremely possible), trading away your third, maybe second-best cornerback can be a decision that comes back to haunt you.
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*Top Photo: Associated Press
