As the Las Vegas Raiders move through the secondary waves of free agency, players with familiarity to key people in the organization rise to the top of potential options to fill out roster depth. The recent signing of offensive lineman Spencer Burford provides proof of that concept.
But Klint Kubiak is not the only one with past ties that could be mined. John Spytek worked in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' front office for years before coming to Las Vegas. His time there was highlighted by a win in Super Bowl LV with Raiders minority owner Tom Brady as the quarterback.
One area that the Raiders need to fortify from what's left of free agency and the draft is the interior defensive line. A veteran addition would be particularly an order, even if the pickings are naturally slim. Raiders analyst Moe Moton offered a option to fortify the nose tackle spot: Greg Gaines.
"Greg Gaines could be an option, has Tampa Bay ties to Spytek," Moton wrote.
In response to a subsequent reply that said Gaines is "too old," as he approaches his 30th birthday on May 6, Moton reminded the audience that it is now late in the free agency period, and that beggers can't really be choosers.
Addition of Greg Gaines would prove John Spytek hasn't learned his lesson
After being drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 2019 and spending the first four seasons of his career there, Gaines has spent his last three seasons with the Buccaneers. Their recent signing of defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson shows they don't really have plans on bringing Gaines back.
Last offseason, Spytek tapped into his (and Brady's) Tampa Bay roots to sign guard Alex Cappa. Cappa was on that 2020 Super Bowl-winning team in Tampa, but the most recent results (2024 with the Cincinnati Bengals) proved that he was no longer that guy.
Apparently the always offensive line-poor Bengals willingly letting him go was a red flag to everyone else but the Raiders, and it went about as expected in what was Cappas' lone season in Silver and Black. The two-year, $11 million deal he signed in Las Vegas was ultimately a waste of money.
Analytics for interior defensive lineman aren't always a good reflection of their effectiveness. That said, Gaines' Pro Football Focus grades have been in free fall over the last few years, culminating in his overall grade (48.2) landing outside the top-100 qualifying defensive tackles last season.
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Of course, PFF is not the end-all, be-all. But when a PFF grade lands on the extremes, either good or bad, it is particularly noticeable and lands as especially meaningful. They're not just making those numbers up.
In fact, the last time Gaines' overall PFF grade was above 60.0 (generally regarded as average) was in 2021, when he played for the Rams. His overall grades in the two seasons that Spytek overlapped with him in Tampa Bay were 52.2 and 56.0 respectively.
Cappa was at least fairly good as recently as 2023 before the Raiders signed him in 2025. Gaines can't claim that proximity to being good, and he went from bad to awful last season. So Spytek should easily avoid re-tapping his Tampa roots this time around.
Spytek has had a strong second offseason at the helm in Las Vegas. But if he signs Greg Gaines to any kind of notable contract in the arena of Cappa, then it would prove that he hasn't necessarily learned his lesson.