The Lynn Bowden storyline is something you couldn’t make up if you tried. Recently on the fantasy show, we talked about the absurdity of the trade.
Let’s get this straight; Draft Lynn Bowden, trade Lynn Bowden for pennies, and Raiders? Congrats, it’s time for you to yell bingo now. Many of us have wondered why the Raiders cut bait with Bowden so soon. Mayock said it wasn’t off the field related.
“No. 1, it was a football decision only. And character, off-the-field, the kid did absolutely nothing wrong. We did all our homework on the kid, off the field,” Mayock said, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN. “He worked his tail off, he came to work every day. So, this was completely a football decision, had nothing to do with anything else. Quite frankly, I think the position change is a difficult one in any year. But it’s exaggerated in a COVID year with no offseason. So, you’re taking a kid that was a slot receiver in ’18, quarterback in ’19 and asking him to play running back in ’20. And, really, the only other thing I’m going to say about it is, it was my call. He was not able to play today at the level expected and because of that, we felt like we had to make a move. And, again, it’s 100 percent on me.”
Let’s walk through this together. So there was no off the field issue before or after the draft. The Raiders just decided to change their mind and not be patient with his development?
Brian Flores is happy to take a chance on Bowden. He swapped late-round draft picks in a low-risk move while drafting former Navy quarterback Malcolm Perry in the seventh round. Now he has two of these players. If one pops, that’s great.
Flores admitted the Dolphins did a lot of work on Bowden prior and is excited to bring him to Miami for a fraction of the draft-day cost.
“We did a lot of work on Lynn pre-draft and when the trade was an option, we did a lot more work,” Flores said, via the Miami Herald. “We’re excited about having him join our team. There’s a lot he’s going to have to learn. He’s not going to jump out and start playing. He has to learn how we do things. He’s got a lot to learn and [that takes] a little bit of time. We’re excited to have him.”
Bowden becomes an exciting player to develop in Miami. They don’t have a ton of depth at running back or wide receiver. Can you rely on a group that includes Jordan Howard and Matt Brieda? Bowden could be an interesting gadget guy later in the season. Time will tell.
