The Philadelphia Eagles are always in the trade market, and pulled off another player-for-player swap in the first week of the preseason. Philadelphia on Monday traded defensive tackle Thomas Booker to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for cornerback Jakorian Bennett.
Bennett, 24, was a 2023 fourth-round pick out of Maryland. He appeared in 24 games (11 starts) with the Raiders over the past two seasons, and he finished third on the team with eight passes defensed last season despite only playing in 10 games.
Booker, 25, was a 2022 fifth-round pick by the Houston Texans. The Stanford product played one season in Houston before being cut and landing on Philadelphia’s practice squad ahead of the 2023 season. He did not appear in a game for Philadelphia that season but played in all 21 games (including playoffs) last season, registering 18 tackles and a sack as the fifth defensive tackle in a loaded position group for the Super Bowl champions.
Eagles-Raiders trade: Philadelphia acquiring CB Jakorian Bennett for DL Thomas Booker IV, per report
Zachary Pereles
In a swap of young players with potential, who got the better end of this deal? These are the trade grades for the Eagles and Raiders.
Eagles: B
The Eagles have an issue in finding the starting outside cornerback opposite of Quinyon Mitchell, evidenced by this trade for Bennett. Neither Kelee Ringo nor Adoree’ Jackson have separated themselves in the competition, as both players have put up inconsistent performances through the Eagles’ nine training camp practices.
Jackson is on just a one-year deal worth $1.5 million, so the Eagles don’t owe him anything other than a chance to win a starting job. Ringo was a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft and is just 23 years old (turned 23 in June), and the Eagles have been patient in his development.
Perhaps Ringo’s struggles with the deep ball in coverage this training camp are why the Eagles felt prompted to acquire Bennett, who was selected one pick ahead of Ringo in that 2023 draft. Bennett isn’t a good tackler (185th out of 207 cornerbacks, per Pro Football Focus), but is proficient in coverage. Last season, opposing quarterbacks targeting Bennett had just a 52.1 passer rating with him in coverage — as he allowed zero touchdown passes and zero interceptions. Bennett allowed just 4.4 yards per attempt as opposing quarterbacks completed only 45% of their passes thrown his way.
Bennett is now certainly in the mix for the starting outside cornerback job opposite Mitchell. He has four weeks to get acclimated to the system and surpass Ringo and Jackson. The Eagles also added cornerback depth with this move, which may also pave the way for more snaps with Cooper DeJean at safety.
The player-for-player swap made sense for the Eagles, as they add more depth at a position that could have used a reliable cornerback — whether Bennett starts or not. Best-case scenario for Bennett is to win the job and start Week 1 at outside cornerback.
Raiders: B-
This is an interesting move for the Raiders, as they traded a starting cornerback in Bennett for defensive tackle depth in Booker. The Eagles had plenty of defensive tackle depth with Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, and Ty Robinson. That made Booker expendable. Booker had a good camp, and can play nose tackle in five-technique and line up at defensive tackle in four-technique.
A good pass rusher when given the opportunity, Booker has a chance to push for significant snaps with the Raiders, who have Adam Butler, Jonah Laulu, Leki Fotu and rookie Tonka Hemingway at defensive tackle. The Raiders released Christian Wilkins last month and needed to fill the void with more depth at the position.
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Jordan Dajani
Though Bennett is fully recovered from a torn labrum that limited him to 10 games, he appeared to fall out of favor due to his size (listed at 5-foot-10, 200 pounds), as Raiders coach Pete Carroll likely wanted to go in a different direction. Bennett was getting buried on the depth chart behind the likes of Eric Stokes, Darien Porter, and Decamerion Richardson.
Parting ways with a proven commodity like Bennett doesn’t make sense, but a new coaching staff and new system means other players get better opportunities. If Bennett was cut, he would have been claimed — so the Eagles parted ways with a player at a position with depth.
Booker gets an opportunity to start in Las Vegas. He’s certainly in the mix for significant snaps.