Oakland Raiders: Ranking the remaining safety options
By Austin Gayle
1. Reggie Nelson
After losing Weddle to the Ravens, former Cincinnati Bengals safety Reggie Nelson has now emerged as the top-ranked free safety left on the market. Yes, Nelson’s age (32) has likely been the primary reason why he has lasted on the market this long, but Oakland simply isn’t in a position to overlook talent.
Nelson, a nine-year safety out of the University of Florida, has accumulated 171 combined tackles, 26 passes defensed, and 12 interceptions in 32 games over the last two seasons.
With his ability to cover both slot receivers and tight ends in man coverage, Nelson allowed Cincinnati to run multiple packages without giving the offense a matchup advantage. Nelson does struggle to make plays in the run game, as he can miss a lot of tackles in space and will get locked up when engaged with offensive linemen.
With that being said, it’s still uncertain why Oakland hasn’t pulled the trigger on the veteran Nelson, but Christopher Hansen of Raidersblog.com believes there still could be some bad blood between Nelson and Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio.
 https://twitter.com/ChrisHansenNFL/status/712384366651904001
Nelson, who was originally drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2007, worked with Del Rio from 2007-2009.
Though we should respect Del Rio’s decision to avoid Nelson if he does have a reason to look the other way, Oakland is running out of options. Nelson would likely play ahead of Allen at free safety, and in turn, allow Carrie to play strong safety while Allen and their potential draft pick to rotate in sub-packages.