The Raiders are tracking to have two starters from their 2020 Week 1 offensive line setup back, with Kolton Miller signed long-term and Richie Incognito back on a lower-cost deal. But spillover from another training camp battle may affect Incognito’s standing. Denzelle Good and John Simpson will vie for the starting right guard spot, but Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed of The Athletic note Raiders coaches have informed the team’s guards the loser of this competition may still wind up replacing Incognito at left guard (subscription required). Incognito, 38, played well in 2019 but missed 14 games due to an Achilles injury last season. The Raiders cut him in March but re-signed him weeks later on a one-year, $2.12MM deal. Good replaced Incognito last year, and the Raiders are hoping Simpson — a 2020 fourth-round pick out of Clemson — can win the right guard competition.
Here is more on the Raiders’ O-line and the latest from some other offensive fronts around the league:
- Elsewhere on Las Vegas’ O-line, the center spot may not be much of a competition. Despite offseason addition Nick Martin having started four full seasons with the Texans, the former second-round pick appears to be clearly behind former UDFA Andre James, according to The Athletic. After trading Pro Bowl center Rodney Hudson to the Cardinals, the Raiders gave James an extension. James has played 116 offensive snaps as a pro; all came in 2019.
- Nate Solder has moved to the Giants‘ roster bubble, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. The 6-foot-8 veteran worked as New York’s starting left tackle in 2018 and ’19, after signing a then-record tackle contract in free agency, but opted out in 2020. The Giants can spread out Solder’s cap hit over multiple years, but they would face a $13.5MM cumulative dead-money charge by cutting Solder. Andrew Thomas has taken over as New York’s left tackle, with Raanan adding that Solder will compete with second-year blocker Matt Peart for the right tackle job. Solder has not been a full-time right tackle since his rookie season in 2011.
- Although former UDFA Daniel Brunskill provided some stability amid 49ers injury chaos last season, starting 16 games, the team plans to return him to a utility role. The 49ers are eyeing second-round pick Aaron Banks as their starting right guard, Matt Barrows and David Lombardi of The Athletic note. Brunskill worked as a swing backup as a rookie in 2019, primarily filling in for left tackle Joe Staley. The 49ers selected Banks 48th overall; the 325-pound rookie started in part of his sophomore season and throughout his junior and senior years at Notre Dame.
- Rather than stockpile depth at tackle, the Eagles may look to trade the loser of the Andre Dillard–Jordan Mailata left tackle competition, Eliot Shorr-Parks writes. While keeping both would provide insurance, Shorr-Parks notes moving Mailata in a contract year would make sense and Dillard may lose more value if he goes through this season as a backup. A 2019 first-round pick, Dillard missed all of last season due to injury and has logged just four career starts. A rugby convert chosen as a project in the 2018 seventh round, Mailata spent two full seasons in development but broke into Philadelphia’s starting lineup for 10 games last season.
Solder isn’t going anywhere. He reworked his deal where cutting him is a minimal savings. Plus anyone else you get that’s available at this point probably won’t be as good.
This!!
I’d rather the Eagles just trade Dillard
Yes, problem is his value is substantially less than what they spent to get him.
What happened to giving guys time to develop. He’s only played one season relax
He’s coming into his 3rd season of pro ball, a 1st rounder should be an instant plug and play. He shouldn’t have tons of questions and wondering if he could beat out a guy that didn’t even know what a football was just a few years ago.
Agreed with Hammer. However, the Eagles’ line struggles may actually work to their advantage in this specific situation. Given Dillard’s first round pedigree, some team may figure that Philadelphia is the problem and be more willing to give an asset for a former early pick who really hasn’t played. The Eagles, if they can’t really decide between Mailata and Dillard, should move Dillard before he loses a competition that will lower his value more from an outside observer’s point of view. There’s no telling if they’re not already trying, but if the competition is that close, I would try to trade the more valuable player before he loses to a seventh rounder playing his third year or so of football.
“a 1st rounder should be an instant plug and play”
That’s a myth and has always been a myth, and it just leads to constantly unrealistic thinking. He wasn’t even a top 10 pick, but the 22nd pick in the 1st round.
That’s fair, cka2nd, but this isn’t exactly Dillard’s first year. A first round pick should reasonably be expected to start or contribute significantly by or before his third year. Dillard is locked in a roster battle with a seventh roster who just took to football recently. It’s much too early to call him a bust by any reasonable standard, but it’s pretty safe to say that he was at least overdrafted.
I don’t have a problem with saying he was over-drafted, not at all. And he’s another O lineman that some of my fellow Vikings fans fell in love with and clearly wildly overrated (see also Hernandez, Will).
Crazy idea but why not look into trading Lane Johnson?
Eagles have gone young with Hurts, Sanders, Smith and so on. Extend Maitala and play him at LT, have Dillard at RT and listen to offer on Johnson. Johnson will get you a decent return, he’s the most expensive of the three and also by far the eldest.
Eagles have to know that they won’t win anything in the postseason, if they make it that far. So plan ahead, trade Johnson and continue the rebuild
Just a random offer but what about Johnson for Gilmore and Harry.
Eagles keep a decent o line, have another young WR with potential to go with their new offence. Then they get a major upgrade defensively in Gilmore, between him amd Slay they would be solid against the pass with Cox upfront too
This ain’t madden bro, Gilmore would bring at least a 1st, not a washed up RT on the wrong side of 30 with injury problems.