Las Vegas Raiders 2020 free agency primer: Linebackers

Who Stays

As the common saying goes, the best ability is availability and in Vontaze Burfict’s case there is no way you can count on him to be available for all 16 games. Burfict’s health has been a concern with the veteran only playing 16 games twice in his eight-year career but the lack of discipline is an even greater worry.

He may land on another team in 2020 but the Raiders will have enough to deal with in a new city and a ticking time bomb at MLB is not a great idea. Perhaps if he had avoided suspension and finished out the season then he may have earned another contract but that was just not the case.

Kyle Wilber is the obvious candidate to move on as he is ultimately a replaceable special teams player whose spot can be filled by a younger and cheaper player. Guys like Wilber can carve out long careers in the NFL because of their versatility but at some point it makes more financial sense to go with a player on the lower end of the minimum deal scale.

Of the three, Will Compton is the most obvious candidate to make the trip to Las Vegas but he should probably rent and not buy. Compton was solid in his short tenure and was eventually given the green communication dot to receive Guenther’s calls but will turn 31 this year and is a limited player at best.

He can provide some decent depth and can start in case of injury but should not be expected to lead this defense long term. Jon Gruden has praised his tenacity and love of the game so maybe he can convince the head honcho to give him a longer term deal but at the very least we should expect to see him in Silver and Black in 2020.

None of these players, and no one else in the LB corps, should be seen as a long term solution to the void at this position for the Raiders but they can be stopgaps while the team goes hunting for impact players in free agency or the draft.