Oakland Raiders Let Their Pass Rush Take A Hit With Mayowa’s Departure

The Oakland Raiders have apparently opted to let DE Benson Mayowa walk away after declining to match the Dallas Cowboys’ offer sheet.

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Last season, the Oakland Raiders‘ pass rush was vastly improved over the 2014 version. In 2014, Oakland defenders combined for a paltry 22 sacks – which ranked near the bottom of the league. In 2015, that number improved to 38 sacks with Khalil Mack cementing his star power by leading the way with 15. The Raiders will need to improve upon that number again – a feat made somewhat more difficult by the departure of valuable rotation guy Benson Mayowa.

If you’re looking at it from a purely numbers standpoint, Mayowa’s departure probably wouldn’t make a blip on you personal radar. In two seasons with the Silver and Black, Mayowa accounted for a less than sizzling two sacks. But as we all know, stats aren’t always the most accurate measure of a player’s impact on a team.

Mayowa’s value to the team was one that isn’t easily recorded on the stat page. He was a valuable rotation piece who undoubtedly helped draw enough attention that he had a hand in helping Mack to those 15 sacks last season.

The Cowboys apparently saw enough value in Mayowa, that they offered the restricted free agent a three year deal worth $9.25 million dollars – with a $3.3 million dollar signing bonus for a cap hit of $4 million in the first year of the contract.

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The decision to let Mayowa head for Dallas was announced, not by the Raiders, but by his agent, via Twitter.

Of course, it makes sense that the Cowboys would take a run at Mayowa. Given that Randy Gregory‘s off the field problems will cause him to miss the first four games of the year, the team has apparently completely cut ties with Greg Hardy, and last year’s sack leader DeMarcus Lawrence is recovering from back surgery.

Needless to say, the Cowboys are pretty thin in the pass rushing department and need all the help they can get.

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Given that Oakland still has a little more than $20 million dollars in cap space after all of their upgrades, they would have been able to match the offer sheet to Mayowa had they desired. But they apparently feel confident enough with Bruce Irvin and Khalil Mack as bookends – not to mention the still possible return of Aldon Smith – that they can make plenty of noise in the pass rushing department without Mayowa.

Still, he was a valuable piece of the rotation. A rotation that is already missing Mario Edwards Jr., who was showing tremendous upside and proving to be a valuable component to the defensive front last season before a neck injury forced him to miss the last couple of games — a mysterious injury that is continuing to keep him on the sidelines.

Edwards’ status is still uncertain, though GM Reggie McKenzie has begun sounding far more optimistic for his return than he had previously, saying that he’s doing great.

"“He’s rehabbing. He feels great so that’s a good thing, but we’re going to wait and get all the information and get with the doctors.”"

But until Edwards steps back out onto the field, the Raiders pass rush is going to be a little thinner without Mayowa. Of course, it is still possible – if not likely – that McKenzie, HC Jack Del Rio, and DC Ken Norton Jr. have plans to draft a pass rusher as well. If he falls to the fourteenth spot, the Raiders would probably do well to snap up Clemson’s Shaq Lawson.

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Mayowa leaving is a definite hit to Oakland’s pass rush. But in the end, a little more than $3 million a season was more than McKenzie was willing to pay for a player who was simply a rotation piece. A very good and very valuable piece of Oakland’s defensive rotation, but a rotation piece nonetheless.