Oakland Raiders will have a lot of defensive options in free agency
By Brad Weiss
The Oakland Raiders have a bunch of needs heading into 2019, and luckily for them, there will be a lot of players available to fill them in free agency.
Heading into the new league year on March 11, the Oakland Raiders will be quite busy as they try and build up their 2019 roster. Last season, the team won only four games, and with 33 pending free agents of their own, you can be new general manager Mike Mayock won’t be getting much sleep over the next couple of months.
As teams press up against the tag deadline tonight, many big-name players will be hitting free agency as unrestricted free agents. We take a look at a handful that would fill immediate needs for the Raiders on defense, starting with an elite, and young safety.
Landon Collins
The 25-years old Pro Bowl safety from the New York Giants will be allowed to walk in free agency, as the team will not tag Landon Collins. One of the unquestioned leaders of their defense, Collins is one of the better young safeties in the game, and locking him up long-term would give the Raiders that elite safety they have lacked for quite some time.
C.J. Mosley
Arguably the best inside linebacker free agent out there, C.J. Mosley will be available to the Raiders when the new league year starts on March 11. Mosley is a guy who can play sideline to sideline, and when you add him to a linebacker group that includes Tahir Whitehead, and a possible early draft pick, this unit would get a major upgrade in year two under defensive coordinator Paul Guenther.
Trey Flowers
A top edge rusher to hit free agency, Tre Flowers will not be tagged by the New England Patriots, and will get to sign wherever he wants this offseason. With Khalil Mack being traded last offseason, Oakland struggled mightily at getting after the quarterback in 2018, and Flowers is a guy who could come in and not only dominate on the field, but serve as a mentor to Arden Key.
Earl Thomas
The Pro Bowl safety is obviously not going back to Seattle, who he famously gave the middle finger after seeing his season end via injury in 2018. Earl Thomas is a guy who could come in and provide veteran leadership in this Oakland secondary, teaming with Karl Joseph to give the team a dynamic duo at the safety spot in 2019.
Next. Which Raiders free agencts should stay, go. dark
Oakland has a lot of housekeeping of their own to take care of, as they have their fair share of free agents scheduled to hit the open market next week as well. This is just a short list of those names the team should target this new draft year, as the defense has to get better if they are going to improve in 2019.