Oakland Raiders: 5 safeties to target in free agency

The Oakland Raiders got great play from two of their safeties in 2018, but may decide to dip into the free agency pool for help at the position.

The safety position has become the chess piece for defenses as they try to match on continuous evolution of modern day offenses. There are still big physical box safeties or mainly single high players, but most teams are looking for the Derwin James type who can excel at both. The Raiders have had almost neither in their secondary for a few years now.

And even though Karl Joseph flashed at the end of the season, the entire group was still marked by injuries and inconsistency. So the Raiders have the justification to go in a different direction if they think that’s the best option moving forward.

However, will they choose to make changes through free agency or the draft?

The easy answer is the draft, but the secondary as a whole this draft class is not great, and with the needs on the front seven perhaps free agency is the best option. That will ultimately be for Jon Gruden to decided, but here are some possible options if they do choose to spend money here.

I’ve excluded Earl Thomas, because even though he’s clearly the best safety in free agency, given his age I only see him looking to play for contenders which the Raiders aren’t at the moment.

Honorable mention: Anthony Harris

He filled in nicely for the Vikings once Andrew Sendejo got hurt, but he is restricted so it would be tough to get him out of Minnesota.