Getty Former Las Vegas Raiders DB Tyree Gillespie.
The Las Vegas Raiders have been trading away some pieces recently but haven’t gotten great returns. The team sent 2021 fourth-round pick Tyree Gillespie to the Tennessee Titans for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2024. That was a quick loss in value for Gillespie but the team likely would’ve cut him had they not found a trade partner.
It appears the Raiders might have been better off just letting him go in the first place. According to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network, the Titans are cutting Gillespie.
Titans cutting former Raiders safety Tyree Gillespie, per a league source
With the safety getting released, the Raiders will no longer be receiving a draft pick from Tennessee. Las Vegas won’t lose sleep over the fact that won’t be getting a seventh-round pick two years from now but it’s better to get something than nothing. This is another setback for the former Missouri standout. Perhaps the Titans or Raiders will stash him on the practice squad for now but his development is clearly going slower than expected.
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Raiders Can’t Keep Missing on Draft Picks
The fact that Gillespie couldn’t stick with the Titans is another example of how bad the Raiders have been at drafting. Teams can find impact players in the fourth round and they should at least last for more than one season. This is a big reason why former general manager Mike Mayock is no longer with Las Vegas.
Fans will have to wait to truly know how new general manager Dave Ziegler performs in the draft. The team traded away its first and second-round picks this year to land Davante Adams. It remains to be seen if he found any late-round gems this year but Ziegler can’t truly be evaluated as a drafter until he gets some first-round picks.
Nate Hobbs Outshined Gillespie
The Raiders had a lot of opportunity in the defensive backfield last year and this year but Gillespie couldn’t cease any. He was quickly outshined by the player taken after him in the 2021 draft Nate Hobbs. The former fifth-round pick was a starter last season and appears set to be one of the Raiders’ most important defenders this year. He’s been impressing everybody in training camp this year, including quarterback Derek Carr.
“When Davante [Adams] walks up, Nate is like ‘I want the rep’,” Carr said recently. “He’s not backing down. He’s like ‘I want that challenge.’ If it was up to Nate, he’d guard everybody. And I think that that’s what you want out of a DB and it doesn’t matter … if Davante makes a play, then boom, Nate’s like ‘I don’t care’ and next play he’ll knock one down and that’s the competitive spirit that you hope happens on your team.”
While Mayock had many misses in the draft, he did find some gems. Hobbs is certainly one of the best picks he made.
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