Jakorian Bennett was teed up to be the guy in Tom Brady‘s Raiders‘ secondary this year. After showing serious flashes in 2024, it looked like Year 3 would be his big leap (maybe even a starting role). He was supposed to be the odd man out in this Raiders’ cornerback room. And he has become one…but not in the way everyone expected.

Yeah, Jakorian Bennett, who signed a 4-year, $4,663,596 contract with Tom Brady’s team in 2023, is headed to Philly. The Raiders are sending him to the Eagles for DT Thomas Booker IV in a straight-up swap. No picks, just a clean player swap, as Albert Breer reported on Monday night.

For Bennett, this feels like a fresh start. He had some positives last year, but never really locked down a role in that rotating Raiders secondary. The Eagles? They love taking chances on young defensive linemen with upside, especially if they can develop in that system. As for DT Thomas Booker IV? He was pretty much buried in Philly’s depth chart. It makes sense on both fronts.

Bennett played 10 games, started 7, and recorded 26 tackles with 8 passes defensed in 2024. Good enough to tie for the 14th most in the NFL. Also good enough for the fans to think he’d have a big part to play this season. What really stood out, though, was how much better he got in press-man coverage. You could see him getting more confident out there. He was sticking to receivers, making life tough for them. But the Raiders going in for Thomas Booker IV showed that they had other priorities.

He suited up for all 17 games (only started one), and still managed to rack up 18 tackles, a sack, a couple tackles for loss, and even got his hand on a pass for the Eagles last year. What makes him interesting is how well he handled those dirty-work reps on the interior, especially in run-heavy sets. You feel his presence in the trenches. That’s exactly why the Raiders were interested. He fits perfectly into what Vegas is trying to build on the D-line.

So yeah, this move just makes sense. The Raiders needed help up front after losing Raekwon Davis and dealing with a bunch of injuries on the D-line. Bringing in Booker gives them some much-needed depth inside. And at just a $4 million cap hit, it’s a pretty solid value play with some upside.

On the other side, Philly gets even deeper in the secondary. They already had a top-five defense in 2024, and now they add Bennett to the mix. He’s young, cheap, and fits right into their cover-heavy scheme. As for the Raiders, there was something else that influenced this move, too.

Lonnie Johnson Jr.’s camp injury put pressure on Raiders’ depth

Las Vegas’ decision to trade Jakorian Bennett didn’t happen in a vacuum, no. It came right after a tough break (literally). Safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. went down with a broken fibula during a mock game at training camp, which totally shook up their secondary plans. He was brought in to compete for snaps in those nickel and dime looks, so losing him this early is brutal. The season is more or less over for him.

Johnson had been getting real run in those dime looks, rotating in with Jamal Adams and Jeremy Chinn during nickel packages. So when he went down, it left a pretty big hole in the Raiders’ coverage game. They needed help in coverage and on the interior D-line, and fast. Trading Bennett felt like a tough call, but it was probably the fastest way to patch two big needs at once.

On the flip side, the Eagles saw a perfect window to move on from Booker. With both Isaiah Buggs and Jalen Carter healthy again, they had more than enough depth up front. Booker just didn’t have a clear role anymore. So they flipped him and used the opportunity to shore up their nickel corner depth behind Darius Slay.

The Raiders got a versatile interior guy who can help cover for injuries and has some draft pedigree. The Eagles get a young corner in Bennett with solid press-man skills. Perfect for keeping that top-5 defense from 2024 rolling strong. Great deal at the right time.