John Spytek continues to strengthen Raiders' defensive front with latest signing

The Las Vegas Raiders have been very stingy with spending their money on free agents this offseason under first-year general manager John Spytek.

While the team did fork out a record-breaking contract for Maxx Crosby and re-sign Malcolm Koonce for $12 million, Spytek has been hesitant to spend big on a player from outside the building. New quarterback Geno Smith will certainly command a hefty contract after being acquired by the team, but that extension is still being discussed.

There are several positions that the Raiders still need to address this offseason, but Las Vegas has the cap space available to make a splash at wide receiver, running back or cornerback. Part of the reason why the team still has so much money to spend is because they've carefully constructed their roster with low-dollar, high-value players. Spytek struck again on Tuesday evening when he re-signed a member of last year's defensive line for cheap.

Raiders add defensive line depth with latest signing

Almost no group in the NFL suffered as many injuries as the Raiders' defense did a season ago. After losing Koonce before the season and players like Marcus Epps, Christian Wilkins and Jakorian Bennett relatively early as well, the team was forced to rely on unproven commodities like K'Lavon Chaisson, Isaiah Pola-Mao and Decamerion Richardson.

Another such player was defensive lineman Zach Carter, who joined the team in mid-October after Wilkins' injury. On Tuesday, the team announced that they were re-signing Carter to a one-year, $1.25 million deal.

Carter played over 100 snaps for the Raiders last season across eight games, recording 13 tackles, 1.0 sacks, 1 pass defended and 1 quarterback hit. In his four games with the Bengals prior to arriving in Las Vegas, he totaled nine tackles, 0.5 sacks and a quarterback hit in just 151 snaps.

While he certainly won't be a starter in front of Wilkins or Adam Butler, Carter had some nice moments last season under defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and defensive line coach Rob Leonard. He is still just 25 years old and should improve even more with a full offseason under Graham and Leonard.

Originally a third-round pick by Cincinnati in the 2022 NFL Draft, Carter never quite panned out for the Bengals. However, the Raiders' new regime has given him a second chance in Las Vegas to prove why he belongs in the NFL.