Las Vegas dealt the former seventh overall pick to the Saints during the draft for the 150th
The Las Vegas Raiders traded edge rusher Tyree Wilson to the New Orleans Saints on Saturday during the third day of the NFL Draft, sending the former seventh overall pick out of town in exchange for the 150th pick in this year’s draft. The Raiders also included their seventh-round pick, No. 219 overall, in the deal.
Wilson, 25, was selected out of Texas Tech in the 2023 draft by a previous Raiders regime. He spent three seasons in Las Vegas, appeared in 50 games with seven starts and accumulated 12 career sacks. He never recorded more than two sacks in a single season.
What Wilson actually produced in Las Vegas
The gap between Wilson’s draft position and his production has been the defining story of his early career. As the seventh overall pick, he arrived in Las Vegas with expectations of becoming a cornerstone pass rusher. Those expectations were not met.
His most consistent contributions came against the run rather than the passer. He recorded 22 tackles for loss across his career, with 10 coming in the last two seasons, a figure that suggests he has been useful without being impactful in the way his draft slot implied. His pressure numbers and sack totals have remained well below what teams typically expect from a player taken in the top 10.
The Raiders chose not to exercise Wilson’s fifth-year option before the trade, a decision that reflected their assessment of his development trajectory. New Orleans now holds the right to make that call.
How the Saints got here
The Saints entered this stretch of the draft with interest in acquiring a pass rusher through trade. They had been in contact with the New York Giants about edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft, but New York’s asking price did not align with what New Orleans was willing to offer. With that option closed, the Saints turned to Wilson.
The comparison between the two players is instructive mostly in terms of draft pedigree. Both were top-five picks who have not yet produced at the level their selection implied. Wilson’s career numbers are significantly lower than Thibodeaux’s, but the Saints are apparently betting on the physical tools that made him a top-10 pick still being present and developable.
What the Raiders get in return
Las Vegas used the 150th pick it received from New Orleans to select safety Dalton Johnson out of Arizona, reuniting him with Treydan Stukes, whom the Raiders had taken in the second round at No. 38 overall. Both players came from the same Arizona program.
The addition addresses a position of real need. The Raiders entered the draft with only two safeties under contract in Jeremy Chinn and Isaiah Pola-Mao, both of whom started in 2025 but are entering the final years of their deals. Stukes is expected to contribute immediately, and Johnson gives the team a developmental option at the position.
The Wilson trade fits the broader picture of a Raiders organization that is rebuilding and reallocating resources. Moving a player who had not grown into his draft value in exchange for draft capital that addressed an immediate positional need reflects a front office decision to prioritize the present construction of the roster over waiting any longer for a return on a pick made by a previous regime.
Wilson now heads to a Saints team that has fewer answers at edge rusher and is willing to take on the upside case that Las Vegas eventually gave up on.