With The First Pick
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Oakland Raiders allow Benson Mayowa to walk

By Carl Cockerham

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December 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive end Benson Mayowa (95) rushes against Buffalo Bills tackle Cordy Glenn (77) during the fourth quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Bills 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
December 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive end Benson Mayowa (95) rushes against Buffalo Bills tackle Cordy Glenn (77) during the fourth quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Bills 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

The Oakland Raiders now have edge-rusher Bruce Irvin to go with top edge-rusher Khalil Mack. And not to be forgotten is Aldon Smith, who has expressed his desire to stay with the Raiders. But still on the team was Benson Mayowa, who wasn’t bad filling in for Smith through his suspension last year.

The Raiders had no idea that free agency would be this good to them so they slapped a restricted free agent tender on Mayowa before free agency started. And a few days ago, the Dallas Cowboys signed him to an offer sheet of three years for $8.25 million. That’s a good signing for the Dallas Cowboys and not a big loss of the Raiders.

Mayowa isn’t the main guy you want, he’s the guy you want when you don’t have the guy you want. And since the Cowboys appear to be letting Greg Hardy go and have Randy Gregory suspended for a four games, they want him. The Raiders didn’t put a draft pick tender on him because that would have required them to pay Mayowa more.

They just wanted the first right of refusal on his services so they won’t get any compensation back for refusing that right. So while the Cowboys have a serviceable DE to get them through until Gregory gets back, the Raiders have two dangerous edge-rushers with an ace in the hole (Smith).

This is a win-no-loss deal as both teams appear to be on their way to contention in the NFL in 2016.

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