The Las Vegas Raiders traded defensive end Tyree Wilson to the New Orleans Saints on Day Three of the 2026 draft.
The Raiders sent Wilson and a seventh-round pick to the Saints for the No. 150 pick when they took Arizona safety Dalton Johnson. So, the Saints measured Wilson’s trade value essentially as a mid fifth-round pick.
That’s a big fall from Wilson being the No. 7 overall pick just three years ago. In the end, he went down as yet another recent Raiders’ failed first-round draft pick.
Wilson,
who will be a free agent next year because his fifth-year option wasn’t exercised, never became anything more than a rotational player and he didn’t consistently make plays in his three seasons in Las Vegas. He has played in 50 games with just 7 starts in three NFL seasons. He has 12 career sacks with 4.5 in 2024 being his career high.
When Wilson came out of Texas Tech, he was considered a top prospect. In fact, there was some speculation Wilson could be more coveted than fellow edge rusher Will Anderson, who went to the Houston Texans at No. 3. The Alabama product has been fantastic and he just signed a contract extension, making him the highest-paid pass rusher in the league.
So, the Texans made the right choice. Going into the draft, the only question about Wilson was he had a foot injury.
It slowed his practice schedule as a rookie, but Wilson didn’t fail in Las Vegas because of a lingering foot injury. He failed because he didn’t make enough plays. Whenever a high draft pick fails, it’s common place to wonder who would have been a better choice and that certainly lingers for former Raiders’ general manager Dave Ziegler.
Players like defensive tackle Jalen Carter (who went at No. 9 to the Philadelphia Eagles) and cornerback Christian Gonzalez (who went No. 17 to the New England Patriots) stick out as better choices. But Carter was would have been a tough sell in Las Vegas because he was involved in a fatal car crash. Picking him less than two years after releasing wide receiver Henry Ruggs before his deadly DUI crash would have been difficult to justify.
Wilson seemed like safe pick. In the end, his trade reminds us all that there are no certainties in the draft.
