The Las Vegas Raiders overhauled their secondary this offseason under new head coach Pete Carroll. In his tenure with the Seattle Seahawks, his famous "Legion of Boom" defenses earned him a reputation as a defensive back guru, so he has had the green light to make changes in Las Vegas.
Carroll's first order of business was to let Nate Hobbs, Tre'Von Moehrig and Marcus Epps walk in free agency without a contract. Then, he released Jack Jones before the NFL Draft, leaving Jakorian Bennett as the only starter who remained on the roster from last season.
Then on Monday evening, Carroll shipped off Bennett to the Philadelphia Eagles in a player-for-player deal. Despite positive reports coming in about the cornerbacks from training camp, the Raiders have an obvious veteran signing to make so they can bolster their secondary.
Raiders should sign Rasul Douglas after trading away Jakorian Bennett
General manager John Spytek should immediately be on the phone with free agent cornerback Rasul Douglas in hopes that he will sign with the Silver and Black ahead of the 2025 NFL season. He is almost 30 years old, but has plenty of experience and some gas left in the tank as well.
At 6-foot-2 and 209 pounds, Douglas also has 32 and 3/8-inch arms, which is the prototypical cornerback that Carroll likes to have in the building. The former third-round pick by the Eagles has carved out a nice eight-year career for himself with four different NFL teams.
If Douglas' name sounds familiar to Raider Nation, that is because he made a brief stop with the team during the 2021 season. He was a member of the offseason roster before losing a cornerback battle to Damon Arnette, Trayvon Mullen and Isaiah Johnson, which looks ridiculous in hindsight.
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He found his way onto the Packers' roster that season and recorded five interceptions, including two pick-sixes, during the 2021 campaign. Douglas also recorded 13 passes defended, a forced fumble and 57 tackles in just 12 appearances.
Douglas started opposite rookie Eric Stokes that year in Green Bay, and he could have the chance to do the same in Las Vegas this season. Carroll is heavily invested in young players like Darien Porter and Decamerion Richardson, but these players could stand to learn a bit from Douglas as well.
New Raiders front office member Anthony Patch was also the Senior Director of College Scouting in Philadelphia when the Eagles selected Douglas in the 2017 NFL Draft, so there is some significant familiarity there.
Signing Douglas would help the team right now, it would give young players a true veteran to lean on, and it would allow the two sides to have a happier ending than they did in 2021.