LogFAQs > #977603079

First trade of the offseason

Raiders receive:
LG Will Hernandez (86 overall, 26 years old)
CB Norm Conley (74, 23)

Seahawks receive:
LG Branden Albert (93, 35)

The Raiders incur a $1.99 mil cap penalty to turn an $11.5 mil cap hit into $7.65 mil in cap hits.

The Seahawks incur $1.60 mil in cap penalties to turn $9.65 mil in cap hits into a $9.54 mil cap hit.

The Raiders had to let several players walk and still needed to make some moves to field a full team within the cap. Albert, despite his talent and history, had an ugly two seasons with the Raiders with 73 blocks against 25 sacks allowed. He clearly wasn't playing up to his price tag. He makes a great change-of-scenery candidate, so a swap of him for former Top 10 pick change-of-scenery candidate himself G Will Hernandez and a cheap second-year CB who will likely be the #4 CB is about what you can hope in a retool trade while slashing nearly $4 mil in cap space. Hernandez' contract runs out after the season, so if he doesn't turn things around, he can easily just walk.

The Seahawks have an obscene amount of cap space, even accounting for having the second-fewest rostered players in the league. I wouldn't say there is a free agent G that is considerably better than Albert (not to mention that there is literally nobody more talented available), so acquiring a buy-low candidate like Albert is a good use of their cap space and limited player trade assets. Albert was a great OT for the Eagles and as a G for the Bills, he was good or great except for one season. It was just the Raiders where he struggled, so a different team/system might be all that he needs, and he can play OT or G for them as they need a starter at both. G Will Hernandez had some promising seasons for them, but he also had a pair of true duds, including a ghastly 30 blocks against 19 sacks last season. Albert should at least provide a higher block total if this turns about to be a one-season rental.

As the sole person involved, I understand the trade parameters, financial impact, histories of players involved, and what both teams hope to achieve. This trade is now official.