The Las Vegas Raiders find themselves very short in the edge rusher department just two games into the season, as the group has been hit with the injury bug.
After placing Malcolm Koonce on injured reserve prior to Week 1, fellow edge rusher Tyree Wilson got hurt in the season-opener and missed Week 2. His status for Week 3 remains up in the air.
It remains to be seen if general manager Tom Telesco wants to make a significant trade to help Maxx Crosby out, but if he does, New York Jets edge rusher Haason Reddick could be an option at some point.
Reddick remains in a standoff with the Jets, who refuse to trade or extend him. It is quite conceivable that this situation could eventually lead to the veteran pass rusher getting traded down the line.
With their need along the edge, Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox suggested a trade proposal for the Raiders that has them sending tight end Michael Mayer to New York for Reddick, which would be an absolute steal.
Granted, Mayer is a good player, but he isn't anywhere near as valuable as Reddick, who is one of the premier pass-rushers in the NFL after tallying 11 or more sacks in four straight seasons. Adding to that, the immediate emergence of Brock Bowers makes Mayer expendable.
The Raiders would have to sign the soon-to-be 30-year-old edge rusher to an extension before completing a trade, but Las Vegas has $27.8 million in cap space currently, and are projected to have a whopping $78.7 million in cap space in 2025, per Over the Cap.
Reddick would be a multi-year solution for the Raiders and would form one of the best pass-rush duos in the NFL with Crosby. Las Vegas could then let the unproven Koonce leave in free agency in 2025 instead of signing him to a long-term deal after just one good season.
The biggest factor in any potential deal for the Raiders would likely be what their plans are moving forward. If Telesco wants to completely rebuild the roster, adding Reddick likely wouldn't fit into that plan and keep Koonce makes more sense. But if he's just retooling the team, Reddick makes much more sense.
