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Oakland Raiders: 5 Moves to improve in 2019 offseason

By Cory Kinnan

LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 18: Jadeveon Clowney #90 of the Houston Texans celebrates after a sack against the Washington Redskins in the fourth quarter of the game at FedExField on November 18, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. The Texans won 23-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 18: Jadeveon Clowney #90 of the Houston Texans celebrates after a sack against the Washington Redskins in the fourth quarter of the game at FedExField on November 18, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. The Texans won 23-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 17: Karl Joseph #42 of the Oakland Raiders celebrates after sacking the quarterback and recovering a fumble against the New York Jets during the fourth quarter of their NFL football game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on September 17, 2017 in Oakland, California. The Raiders won the game 45-20. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 17: Karl Joseph #42 of the Oakland Raiders celebrates after sacking the quarterback and recovering a fumble against the New York Jets during the fourth quarter of their NFL football game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on September 17, 2017 in Oakland, California. The Raiders won the game 45-20. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Keep Karl Joseph

The opposite of trading Osemele, the Raiders need to keep Karl Joseph in their secondary for a couple of reasons. One reason being that even in a season where there was uncertainty surrounding his name, Joseph performed well, recording a pick, two sacks, and two tackles behind the line of scrimmage in only eight games; he graded out at an above-average 74.5 according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

The second reason not to trade Joseph is the fact that he is only 25 years old and, along with Gareon Conley, that gives Oakland a good, young core to build their secondary around. With both Conley and Joseph playing well when healthy, it does not make sense to scrap young talent when there are other, much bigger holes to fill; why create another?

Thirdly, it makes absolutely no financial sense for the Raiders to part with Joseph at this point, and it would be foolish to make a trade now; although Gruden did trade Khalil Mack so make your best judgement there.

In order to part with Joseph now, the Raiders would have to eat nearly $4 million in dead money without seeing a dime in cap relief. Keep Joseph for at least another year and let Oakland/Vegas be a place for young players to develop and become lifelong veterans for your franchise.

For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe to PFF’s EDGE or ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.

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