Las Vegas Raiders 2020 free agency primer: Linebackers

The Las Vegas Raiders have many decisions to make in terms of free agency, and in this series, we take a look at the linebackers whose contracts have expired

Throughout their storied history, the Oakland/Los Angeles/Las Vegas Raiders have had some truly legendary players suit up at the linebacker position. From Hall of Famer Ted Hendricks to Super Bowl champions Matt Millen and Rod Martin, to the “Hall of Very Good” guys like Greg Biekert and Kirk Morrison, they all excelled in their own way and made huge impacts for the Silver and Black.

Unfortunately since Kirk Morrison’s departure from Oakland in 2009, the Raiders have been trying to fill that positional void, doing so with little to no success and 2019 was no different.

The Raiders brought in veteran LB Vontaze Burfict in the offseason on a one-year deal because of his familiarity with Defensive Coordinator Paul Guenther’s scheme but his propensity for dirty hits and tarnished reputation saw him play only four games in 2019. Burfict’s suspension and a slew of injuries to the other linebackers, similar to the defensive backfield, forced the Raiders to play guys out of position and bring in free agents from off the street.

Neither of these things are unique to the Raiders but when the position group as a whole is already weak then any starter missing time for injury or suspension is even more crippling. It has been obvious for a decade that the position group is in dire need for an upgrade but it was even more pronounced in 2019 and the Raiders have some choices to make before the NFL Draft and free agency kicks off.