The Las Vegas Raiders have favored a cautious approach in free agency. While that's led to frustration for many fans, it's typically the wisest approach for a team to take in free agency.
The biggest problem for the Raiders isn't which new players they haven't signed but more about which returning players they didn't retain. Perhaps the biggest loss was linebacker Robert Spillane signing with the New England Patriots.
He was a team captain and one of the hearts of the Raiders defense. He'll be difficult to replace. The Raiders didn't take any big swings at linebacker but they did add Elandon Roberts on a one-year contract.
He doesn't have the name recognition as Spillane but Spillane was also an unknown when the Raiders signed him. Roberts is already 30 so it's unlikely he's about to have a huge breakout year the way Spillane did a couple of seasons ago but he could still have some upside.
In fact, Pro Football Focus named Roberts as the Raiders free agent signing that has the highest upside.
"The Raiders swapped out a now-$11 million-per-year player for a $3.01 million linebacker and arguably won’t see much of a drop-off in talent," Ben Cooper wrote. "Before joining the Raiders, Spillane never earned a 60.0-plus PFF overall grade in four seasons with the Steelers. He topped that figure in both of his years in Las Vegas. Roberts, who also comes from Pittsburgh, was the NFL’s third-highest-graded linebacker in run defense last season (91.0) but dealt with some coverage woes (49.6) — similar to what the Raiders got out of Spillane."
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is a former linebackers coach so he knows how to get the most out of the position. The Raiders can't expect Roberts to be as good as Spillane was but if he can at least be close, that's a win for Las Vegas.