Oakland Raiders: 5 defensive linemen to target in free agency

The Raiders will have to pay out the wazoo to land the best pass rusher hitting free agency in Dallas Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence. He had a huge breakout season in 2017 in his fourth year out of Boise State with 14.5 quarterback sacks. Dallas could very well franchise tag him, but if he hits the open market, look out.

Lawrence is 6-foot-3, 251 pounds and an absolute dynamo coming off the edge. He may be seen as a redundancy with the Raiders having already two high-end pass rushers in Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin. However, Lawrence just had a better pass-rushing season that both of them. You can never have too many pass rushers, right?

On many teams’ boards, Lawrence might be the top pass-rushing target. However, the Raiders aren’t as desperate for getting after the opposing quarterback as most. They are just looking to fill the void of Autry should he leave in free agency. Even if Lawrence regresses to the mean, his signing would certainly do that. That being said, we do need to see one more year like 2017 out of Lawrence before he’s worth top-dollar on the open market.

The talent and production with him is obvious, but Lawrence is not the guy the Raiders need to throw the most money at in free agency in 2108. They have other needs they’ll need to suffice before even thinking about paying Lawrence eight figures. That being said, could you even begin to imagine the Raiders’ pass rush with Irvin, Mack and Lawrence? It’d be like Sacksonville.