The Las Vegas Raiders were in a difficult spot on the first day of free agency. While Monday was just the beginning of the legal tampering period, teams began reaching agreements on large contracts as soon as they were able to speak directly with players.
New general manager John Spytek did a fair amount of roster-building late last week but refused to overpay for players on the open market. That meant that free agents Robert Spillane, Nate Hobbs, and Tre'Von Moehrig all found new homes for next season on expensive, multi-year deals.
But Spytek was not completely silent on Monday as the team re-signed promising defensive end Malcolm Koonce and reached an agreement with Commanders safety Jeremy Chinn. He effectively found a replacement for Moehrig, but until the evening, the team still had no answers for how to cope with the loss of Hobbs and Spillane.
Then, Spytek made a series of moves late in the day to begin filling in the holes that these two players left in the defense when they departed for other teams.
Raiders add two potential defensive replacements in free agency
Fox Sports NFL Insider Jordan Schultz broke the news that the team had agreed to a contract with veteran defensive back Lonnie Johnson Jr., and Adam Schefter later reported that the Raiders reached an agreement with inside linebacker Elandon Roberts.
Johnson is a six-year NFL veteran and has played for four different franchises. Originally a second-round pick by the Houston Texans in 2019, Johnson has had one-year stints with the Titans, Saints, and Panthers as well. He has 199 career tackles as well as four interceptions and 15 passes defended.
While he has primarily served as a special teams stud in recent seasons, he is a versatile defensive back who has played both nickel corner and safety. Under head coach Pete Carroll, every player will have the opportunity to compete, which means Johnson could end up filling in for Hobbs this season in some capacity.
Roberts is a similar player to Spillane in the sense that both are run-stopping inside linebackers but have their struggles in pass coverage. The difference between them is that not only was Roberts signed at a fraction of the price, but he is not supposed to be an every-down linebacker like Spillane.
Instead of remaining in the game to get torched on passing downs, Roberts will likely step off the field and allow another linebacker or a big safety like Chinn to cover tight ends and running backs out of the backfield. He can still be effective in this role, as last season in Pittsburgh, he played just under half of the team's defensive snaps but still managed 46 tackles, including five for a loss, as well as 1.0 sacks and a forced fumble.
Neither of these players will likely fill the void left by Hobbs and Spillane, but neither will break the bank either. Keep in mind that Hobbs was a fifth-round pick, and Spillane signed for just $3.75 million per year. Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has a knack for getting the most out of his players, and it should shock nobody to see him do the same with the latest Raiders free agent signings.