Raiders trade Trent Brown

The Raiders have found a trade partner for right tackle Trent Brown, according to a person close to the situation, and by moving him to the New England Patriots along with a 2022 seventh-round pick Tuesday, they shed all of Brown’s $14 million salary from their 2021 books.

As part of the deal, Brown has agreed to restructure his contract for the Patriots from the two years and $29 million that was remaining to one-year, $11 million.

The Raiders get salary cap relief and a 2022 fifth-round pick from the Patriots for a player who completed just 16 games over the past two years, including the disappointing four full games he delivered last season while dealing with a nagging calf injury and COVID-19.

Trading Brown is the latest in a series of Raiders moves designed to create salary cap relief. The Raiders also released wide receiver Tyrell Williams, cornerback Lamarcus Joyner and guard Richie Incognito and are expected to release Gabe Jackson if they can’t find a trade partner for the veteran guard. Assuming they move on from Jackson they have a projected $34.2 million in cap space. That will grow by $10.7 million if they move on from backup quarterback Marcus Mariota via trade or release, as expected.

In the final analysis, the Raiders got just half of what they expected from Brown upon signing him to a four-year, $66 million contract in 2019. Brown collected $36.25 million in guaranteed money over the first two years of the deal. While he was a dominant player when he was on the field, his frequent lack of availability became too much of a concern. At the salary he was due over the next two years, he was a liability.

It also closes the book on a 2019 Raiders offseason that quickly turned from promising to troublesome. The trade for wide receiver Antonio Brown blew up in their face, and they did not get the expected return on the signings of Brown, Williams and Joyner.

But in getting rid of one headache the Raiders create the potential for another.

The trade of Brown, coupled with the release of Jackson and Incognito, opens a crater-like hole on the offensive line. And with Denzelle Good, who filled in admirably for Brown and then Incognito last season, a pending free agent, the Raiders face the real possibility of going into next season with just left tackle Kolton Miller and center Rodney Hudson as returning starters.

Successfully filling that hole is required to keep the 10th-best offense in the NFL humming as it did in 2020. To do so, the Raiders will look to free agency and the draft. Presumably, that means trying to bring back Good and potentially leaving the door open for Incognito to return.

As far as replacing Brown, pending free agents Alejandro Villanueva (Pittsburgh), Daryl Williams (Buffalo) and Mike Remmers (Kansas City) are names to keep an eye on, while a deep group of college prospects offers possibilities in next month’s draft.

Southern California’s Alijah Vera-Tucker, Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw, Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins and Michigan’s Jalen Mayfield are first-round possibilities. Samuel Cosmi from Texas, Dillon Radunz from North Dakota State, Alex Leatherwood from Alabama and Liam Eichenberg from Notre Dame are tackles projected to be drafted beyond the first round.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore onTwitter.