Raiders had concerns about Lynn Bowden, both on and off the field

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The Raiders made one of the strangest moves of roster cutdown day when they traded away Lynn Bowden, whom they selected in the third round of this year’s draft, and also gave away a sixth-round draft pick just to get a fourth-round pick back. Obviously, the Raiders decided in the months since the draft that they made a mistake.

So what led them to that conclusion? It was apparently a combination of both on-field and off-field issues.

On the field, those issues had been reported on in training camp. Bowden was a versatile player at Kentucky who performed admirably when injuries forced him to make the unusual switch from wide receiver to quarterback last season, but while Bowden was able to play a number of positions well at the college level, there were always questions about whether he could play any position well enough to earn a roster spot in the NFL. In training camp, there was talk that Bowden was struggling to find a role for himself in Jon Gruden’s offense.

But TheAthletic.com reports that there were also concerns about him off the field. Those concerns started when Bowden was at a home that was searched by police this offseason, and reportedly continued when Bowden showed himself getting distracted by off-field activities in Las Vegas.

There are plenty of distractions in Miami, too, but the Dolphins apparently think Bowden is worth the risk. They gave up a lot less to get him than the Raiders did.