Third Terp heads to NFC East after preseason trade

diggsreport
Aug 5
2 min read

Former Maryland defensive back Jakorian Bennett has been traded from the Las Vegas Raiders to the Philadelphia Eagles for defensive tackle Thomas Booker, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Bennett, who becomes the first Terp in Philadelphia since Dexter McDougle in 2018, joins an Eagles team coming off a Super Bowl championship and is hoping to be the first consecutive NFC East champs since the division won four straight from 2001-04. He leaves a Raider defense looking to bounce back after finding itself in the headlines last week following the release of Christian Wilkins, a move that set the stage for Las Vegas to ship the former Maryland cornerback in exchange for an interior defensive lineman.

“He’s mature, really a pleasure to work with,” former Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said of Bennett almost exactly one year after the organization traded him away. “Takes the game very seriously, intelligent, can learn quick and then take it from the meeting room to the field. You’ve seen him compete on some down-the-field throws. It’s hard to run by the guy because he runs very well and he’s trying to get his hands on balls, which we saw in college as well. So, just a competitive guy, good leader, quiet at times when he’s really paying attention.”

Bennett starred at Maryland for three seasons, finishing with 69 tackles, five interceptions, and 26 passes defended. He was also the MVP of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in 2022.

Following the 2022 season, the Raiders drafted Bennett in the fourth round, 104^th overall. He spent the last two seasons in Las Vegas, starting in 11 of 24 games where he recorded 58 tackles and eight passes defended. He now will look to fit into an Eagles’ cornerback room that’s headlined by a pair of second-year stars in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.

Thomas Booker was a former four-star recruit from Gilman High School in Baltimore. He signed with Stanford coming out of high school and was drafted in the fifth round, 150^th overall, by the Houston Texans in 2022.

Bennett, meanwhile, remains one of 31 Terps on NFL rosters heading into week one of the 2025 NFL season.

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