After the Oakland Raiders hit a home run with the first blockbuster trade of the NFL offseason, they went back-to-back with their first free-agent signing as the new league year got underway.
Just days following the blockbuster trade that brought Antonio Brown to Oakland, the Raiders landed arguably the most coveted offensive lineman on the open market in Trent Brown. The Black and Silver certainly paid a pretty penny to acquire his services, as they inked the 25-year-old to a record-breaking deal.
Given how in-demand Trent Brown was, Mike Mayock knew the Raiders needed to act fast in order to bring the 6-foot-8, 380-pound tackle Oakland. During Antonio Brown’s introductory press conference Wednesday, the Raiders general manager shed light on the franchise’s pursuit of the newest staple of its offensive line.
“The Trent Brown thing was amazing,” Mayock said, as seen on Raiders.com. “Coach (Jon) Gruden kept talking about getting the ‘Brown Brothers.’ And Trent was our No. 1 ranked tackle in this situation. He was also represented by Drew (Rosenhaus). Drew was really important because there was a lot of competition for this guy. When the open negotiating started on Monday morning, we had to be prepared and ready to go and our department was. We had an offer ready to go and it was aggressive. Drew recognized it and it was one of the few teams that Trent wanted to go to.”
After a disappointing 2018 season that saw the Raiders finish 4-12, it’s safe to say excitement and hope have been restored within the franchise.
