The Las Vegas Raiders have been strategically aggressive this offseason in their first year under new general manager John Spytek. He and head coach Pete Carroll seem to have agreed that the players in this year's free agency class were not worth paying top dollar to, so they have gone a different route.
They let star players like Robert Spillane, Tre'Von Moehrig, Nate Hobbs and Alexander Mattison all walk in free agency for bigger contracts while they signed cheaper players like Elandon Roberts, Jeremy Chinn, Eric Stokes and Raheem Mostert to replace them.
Las Vegas also threw their hat in the ring for New England Patriots restricted free agent linebacker Christian Elliss by signing him to an offer sheet late last week. However, on Monday, the team got bad news on that front.
Patriots re-sign Raiders LB target Christian Elliss
When Las Vegas signed Elliss to the offer sheet, the Patriots had until Monday to match the offer and keep him in New England because he was a restricted free agent. The Patriots had already acquired linebackers Robert Spillane and Jack Gibbens this offseason, which made it seem unlikely that the team was going to spend the money on a third linebacker.
However, ESPN's Mike Reiss confirmed on Monday that New England was matching the Raiders' offer sheet for Elliss. The two-year deal keeps him with the Patriots through the 2026 NFL season.
Raider Nation began to get excited about the young linebacker prospect as he showed incredible promise despite playing less than half of the team's defensive snaps last season. But, the Patriots saw this in him as well, which is why they did not let him leave the building.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler pointed out that Elliss' outside interest meant that he was regarded as a highly valuable player. This is why New England coughed up the money to keep him.
Las Vegas will now pivot to the unrestricted free agent market, where several great players are still available. Stars like C.J. Mosley and E.J. Speed have not been signed yet, nor have solid veterans like Kwon Alexander or Eric Kendricks.
Spytek and the Raiders may look toward the draft now as well, where there are a handful of great prospects like Alabama's Jihaad Campbell and South Carolina's Demetrius Knight II.