The Oakland Raiders added Luke Willson to the mix on Friday, and with the signing, does that mean they are done adding to the tight end position?
On Friday, the Oakland Raiders signed former Detroit Lions tight end Luke Willson, adding another athletic player at the position group. Willson spent his entire NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks before going to the Lions for the 2018 season, and set a career-high with four touchdowns in his final season in the Northwest.
Willson comes to the Raiders as a Super Bowl champion, after winning the big one as a member of the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII.
Oakland was in position to draft a tight end this April, as they were slated to go into the draft with Darren Waller, Lee Smith, and Derek Carrier at the position. Over the past two seasons, Jared Cook led this position group, leading the Raiders in receiving yards in each year, though he signed on with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent last week.
Waller is a guy who the Raiders are very high on, and they plan on giving him the opportunity of a lifetime to be their No. 1 tight end next season. However, Waller has struggled with suspensions in the past, and that has to be in the back of the minds of the coaching staff heading into the summer.
Smith and Carrier are solid NFL players, and played big roles in the Raiders offense last season. Smith ended up being a guy who could be relied on in the red zone, and Carrier brings with him a tenacity at the position that makes him very valuable to this roster.
With the addition of Willson, the Raiders have four quality tight ends on the roster heading into next April’s draft, so they could be done with the position. However, there are some elite prospects in this year’s draft class, and Jon Gruden has never been one to shy away from taking the best player available.
Oakland holds four of the first 35 picks this April, and they could be enticed to go after a players like T.J. Hockenson or Noah Fant from Iowa. Both of them are the kind of pass-catching tight ends that Cook was during his time in the Silver and Black, and we all saw how much Carr covets his security blankets at the position.