Nicholas Morrow made the jump from undrafted free agency to receiving a second-round RFA tender this year. He is officially back with the Raiders after signing that tender Monday, Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.
The fourth-year linebacker will see a salary bump from $645K to 3.26MM. The Raiders cut Tahir Whitehead but made multiple moves at linebacker, signaling a likely shift in Morrow’s role.
Morrow’s 730 snaps last season (second among Raider linebackers) ranked in the top 50 among off-ball linebackers, but the Raiders signed both Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski early in free agency. The contracts given to those two point to them being the odds-on favorites to be Las Vegas’ two three-down ‘backers. The Raiders’ top three linebackers will combine to count more than $20MM against their 2020 cap. Littleton is attached to an $11.75MM cap figure; Kwiatkoski’s cap number comes in at $7MM.
The Raiders started Morrow in eight games last season; his role increased after Vontaze Burfict‘s season-ending suspension. Morrow made a career-high 73 tackles and intercepted the first pass of his career last season. He is in line to be an unrestricted free agent in 2021.