Jason Verrett should be a target of the Oakland Raiders in free agency

The Oakland Raiders have needs up and down their roster this free agency period, and cornerback Jason Verrett should be a target.

We are now less than a month away from free agency kicking off for the Oakland Raiders. It is the first step towards filling the multiple holes on the roster and with over $71 million in cap space, they’ll have a shot at addressing the bulk of them.

With so much cap space available, players in the open market will most likely try to squeeze as much as they can from the Raiders. It makes business sense considering the state of the team.

However, there is one player who won’t be able to milk the Raiders. That player is Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Jason Verrett. The Chargers appear to be content to move on from Verrett as the former pro bowler has been plagued with a spew of injuries. His most recent injury cost him the 2018 season with a torn Achilles.

Before the injury bug bit him, Jason Verrett was a stalwart cornerback. In 2015, Pro Football Focus had Verrett tied for the highest coverage grade among all cornerbacks with a 90.9 and added three interceptions.

Verrett definitely deserves to be looked at and should garner a lot of attention in free agency. The Oakland Raiders need to be in the front of that line for his services. I don’t care if they have to cut someone in line or stiff arm a team out. Verrett should be on the Raiders free agent list. Take a chance on him. There is no risk at all to signing him on a flier.

On top of that, if he does regain anywhere close to his 2015 form, then he’ll know the Raiders will be able to pay him top dollar. At that point, he’ll be well worth cost if he regains elite status, which I truly believe he will if he’s fully recovered from his Achilles tear.

The Oakland Raiders are like swiss cheese with the amounts of holes in their roster. The secondary is one of them. Sure, Gareon Conley is establishing himself as an elite corner and Daryl Worley played well towards the end of the season. That still isn’t enough to say that the cornerback position is fine.

Having two strong corners in this league is not the standard nor is it sufficient. Nickel packages are the new norm. It’s why base packages of 4-3/3-4 are irrelevant.

Imagine throwing Verrett into the mix. In this passing league, three talented corners make it’s incredibly frustrating to go up against. You’d need a great offensive innovator to scheme open receivers at that point.

The obvious and only concern is if he’ll ever be the same player again. Well just look across the bay. The San Francisco 49ers signed Richard Sherman on a flier and that paid off dividends. Injuries are different for everyone, especially with recovery.

That, however, should not deter the Raiders from signing Jason Verrett. It’s no risk, high reward with bringing him in. What’s even better is that he’s 27 years old, so he’s not an old player. He’ll break the Jon Gruden stereotype of old veteran players. This is a player that has a long term outlook, unless he’s actually cursed with injuries for his NFL lifetime. Jason Verrett is a no brainer signing for me. He’s an elite corner that, if healthy, will improve any secondary.