Oakland Raiders: 5 defensive back targets in 2018 NFL free agency
By John Buhler
FS. Los Angeles Rams. LaMarcus Joyner. 1. player. 51.
One name that keeps coming up when we’re talking about free agent defensive backs is Los Angeles Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson. Though a top-10 cornerback in football, he will be the highest paid cornerback in football this offseason because the Rams have questionably franchise tagged him twice.
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With that in mind, Los Angeles will likely try to strike up a long-term deal with their prized No. 1 cornerback. What that could inevitably do is let their promising free safety LaMarcus Joyner hit the open market. This guy could be huge in the Raiders secondary. Joyner won’t command top dollar, but would be a younger and better replacement of soon-to-be free agent safety Reggie Nelson.
Having a trio of Joyner, Karl Joseph and Obi Melifonwu at safety could be very enticing for Guenther. There is inherent depth and versatility with that trio. Joyner would technically be the seasoned veteran, but he’d be coming into a new situation in Oakland. That being said, it will all be new with the new coaching staff in place.
Next: Oakland Raiders: 5 2018 free agency targets in-house
With Nelson and cornerback T.J. Carrie likely gone, Joyner may very well be the guy the Raiders target in free agency to help bolster this lackluster defensive backfield. The Rams would love to have him back, but Oakland can totally win a bidding war for his services. Obviously, it’s too early to know where the Raiders will go to improve their secondary. However, we have to expect them to address it some capacity, probably in free agency before the draft.