New general manager John Spytek wasted no time turning over the Las Vegas Raiders' roster this offseason as the team lost roughly half of their defensive starters from Week 1 of last season in free agency.
Among those players were Tre'Von Moehrig, Nate Hobbs, Marcus Epps and Divine Deablo, all of whom left for other teams who gave them bigger contracts.
However, the team's biggest loss on defense was linebacker Robert Spillane, who was not only a productive player for the Raiders, but was also an emotional and spiritual leader for the team. He left for the New England Patriots, singing a three-year, $37.5 million deal.
Las Vegas will have their hands full trying to fill the void left by Spillane, but they just signed a Patriots linebacker to an offer sheet, so the two teams could be making a swap of sorts.
Raiders attempt to replace Robert Spillane with Patriots LB
On Wednesday, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that the Raiders were signing Patriots restricted free agent linebacker Christian Elliss to an offer sheet.
Because he is a restricted free agent, the Patriots have until Monday to match the offer and retain Ellis. However, that seems unlikely as the team spent big money on Spillane and added another linebacker yesterday, Jack Gibbens, who already has a rapport with head coach Mike Vrabel.
Elliss originally joined the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent before the 2021 season and played in 19 games for the franchise over two and a half seasons. Partway through the 2023 season, he joined the New England Patriots and played in 20 games over a season and a half.
Last year, he played just under half of the Patriots' defensive snaps, and recorded 80 tackles, 1.5 sacks, five passes defended and an interception. He also added a force fumble and fumble recovery, as well as a tackle for loss, and relinquished only an 86.1 QBR when targeted.
Elliss also comes from a football family, as he is the son of former Pro Bowl defensive lineman Luther Elliss and the brother of Broncos linebacker Jonah Elliss and Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss.
He'll be a cheap option for Las Vegas, and between him and Elandon Roberts, the two could make up for the loss of Spillane. Spytek is doing things a bit differently for the Raiders, as these moves will almost certainly net the team a nice compensatory pick next season.