Raiders Eyeing Early-Round QBs?
With the NFL banning pre-draft visits for the remainder of the 2020 cycle, the market for this year’s top quarterback prospects will be murkier than usual. As this new reality begins, though, some Raiders news on this topic has emerged.
The Raiders hold two first-round picks — at Nos. 12 and 19 — and growing buzz has surfaced regarding the team using the second of these picks on a quarterback, Vic Tafur of The Athletic notes (subscription required).
Should Jordan Love fall to No. 19, the Utah State prospect staying in that region and trekking to Las Vegas could be in play, per Tafur. The Dolphins got in a last-minute visit with Love before the NFL nixed such meetings Friday, so teams’ Love interest may be more difficult to pin down. He’s been linked to both teams in the top 10 and mentioned as a candidate to fall in the first round. Love will be one of this year’s most intriguing prospects.
The Raiders are “very high on” Oklahoma dual-threat passer Jalen Hurts, Tafur notes. It would almost certainly not require the No. 19 overall pick to nab the ex-Alabama starter, but a trade-back plan for Hurts could be in play come Day 2 of the draft.
It seems the Raiders have backed off in the Tom Brady pursuit, being since linked to a Derek Carr–Marcus Mariota position battle. An early quarterback pick would be an interesting decision if the Raiders land Mariota in free agency, but this team has been frequently mentioned in quarterback rumors for most of Jon Gruden‘s two years back at the helm.
After two years of Carr going unchallenged, and with the Raiders not using any draft capital to bolster the position, it appears the team will make a move to add to its QB depth chart in the coming months.
Broncos Notes: Harrises, Wolfe, OL, RBs
The Broncos both traded for A.J. Bouye (and a $13MM salary) and used their franchise tag on Justin Simmons, signaling Chris Harris‘ time in Denver was almost certainly up. The four-time Pro Bowler said during an NFL Network appearance the door is “pretty much” closed on a 10th Broncos season (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala). The decorated cornerback is expected to have at least 10 teams pursuing him, Troy Renck of Denver7 tweets. The Browns, Cardinals, Chargers, Chiefs, Cowboys, Jets, Lions, Raiders, Seahawks and Texans are expected to have “strong” interest in signing the 30-year-old defender, Renck adds. This list interestingly omits the Eagles, who have been linked to Harris at multiple junctures over the past five months.
Although Harris is arguably the best slot cornerback in NFL history, his consistent usage as a boundary player as well will likely push his market near the current corner standard of $15MM per year. He turned down the Broncos’ three-year, $36MM proposal before the trade deadline.
Here is the latest out of Denver:
- Denver’s Week 1 starting defensive line consisted of Derek Wolfe, Shelby Harris and Adam Gotsis. All three are poised to hit the market, with Gotsis doing so after being benched early in the season. Shelby Harris would prefer to stay in Denver but has acknowledged, at 28, this is his lone chance at a big payday. The Colts are among the teams interested in the late-blooming D-lineman, Renck notes.
- On the Wolfe subject, the eight-year veteran has been the most vocal about returning to Denver. His agent’s Combine meeting with the Broncos led him to believe he will hit the market. “[The Broncos] talked to my agent at the Combine. … It looks like they’re going to let me hit free agency, see what the market is,” Wolfe said during an interview with KOA Radio (via DNVR Sports’ Andrew Mason, on Twitter). “… It’s a nice way of saying, ‘We like you; we love you, but not for that kind of money.” The Broncos may bring back Wolfe or Shelby Harris, but not both. The team drafted Dre’Mont Jones in Round 3 last year, so it may be covered at one of its defensive end spots. Wolfe, 29, said during an interview with Sirius XM Radio (audio link) he is eyeing two to four more seasons.
- The Broncos’ interest in a running back stems not necessarily from their current regime’s desire to replace Phillip Lindsay but to complement him, per Renck, who adds the team is expected to add a bigger back in either free agency or the draft. Royce Freeman has underwhelmed in that role over the past two seasons.
- The Broncos plan to pursue a guard on the market, Renck notes (on Twitter). They declined Ronald Leary‘s 2020 option, so a replacement will be needed. They also may try to add a swing tackle and are likely to draft a tackle, which makes sense given left tackle Garett Bolles‘ struggles.
- Elijah Wilkinson was supposed to work as a Broncos swing man in 2019, but Ja’Wuan James‘ near-season-long absence thrust Wilkinson into Denver’s right tackle spot. He spent time as a first-string guard in 2018 and stands to factor into the Broncos’ 2020 plans at one of those two positions. The team is expected to use a priority tender on Wilkinson, per Renck. This will likely mean a second-round tender. That will cost more than $3MM.
Packers To Meet With Christian Kirksey
The Packers are set to meet with free agent linebacker Christian Kirksey on Thursday, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). Kirksey left his Raiders visit without a deal this week, though Garafolo hears that a deal is still possible with Las Vegas. 
Kirksey, 27, was cut by the Browns earlier this month. In Cleveland, he was equally known for his tenacious play and his charitable work. On the field, he appeared in 73 career games and made 54 starts over the course of six seasons. Recently, however, he has has been slowed by injuries. In 2018, a hamstring injury kept him out for more than half of the season. Last year, he only played in two games thanks to a pec tear.
The Browns re-upped Kirksey to a four-year, $38MM extension before the 2017 season. Even before the injuries started, Kirksey’s performance was dipping off a bit, as shown by the advanced metrics in ’18. It was a sharp contrast from 2017, when he tallied 148 total stops.
Kirksey would be a logical fit for both the Raiders and Packers, and he’d come at a much cheaper rate than his previous contract.
LB Kenneth Murray To Meet With 15 Teams
Kenneth Murray is a popular man. The Oklahoma linebacker told NFL.com’s James Palmer that he’s set to meet with 15 teams in the coming weeks (via Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com).
Murray revealed that he’ll start his workout circuit with the Texans on March 18th before having visits “back-to-back-to-back.” The Ravens, Raiders, Cowboys and Cardinals are among the teams that the linebacker is expected to meet with.
After earning a second-team All-Big 12 nod in 2018, Murray got first-team recognition following a standout 2019 campaign. The junior finished the season with 102 tackles, four sacks, and four passes defended.
Murray is in contention to be the second linebacker off the board after Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons, and he could be selected as early as midway through the first round. He didn’t participate in Oklahoma’s pro day today after having tweaked his hamstring during the 40-yard dash at the Combine. Fortunately, he told Palmer that he’s almost back to full health.
“The hamstring is doing good,” Murray told Palmer. “I’ll be fully healthy in a couple of days.”
Christian Kirksey To Visit Raiders
The Raiders have plenty of holes in their linebacker corps, and the expectation is that they will turn to both free agency and the draft to fill those holes. Las Vegas is already starting on the free agency route, as Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network reports that the club will meet with veteran LB Christian Kirksey today (Twitter link).
Kirksey, 27, was released by the Browns just yesterday. We subsequently heard that he had three visits lined up, but we did not know the details of those visits. Now, we know that the Raiders are the first stop on his tour.
Kirksey played in 73 games and started 54 times over the course of six years in Cleveland. After his first four years of perfect attendance, the injury bug derailed him a bit. In 2018, he was held back by a hamstring injury, and last year, a torn pectoral muscle shut him down after just two games.
In addition to the injury issues, the 2014 third-rounder’s performance started to suffer not long after he signed a four-year, $38MM extension in May 2017. He finished the 2016 season with a whopping 148 tackles and was Pro Football Focus’ 22nd-best LB, but prior to being shut down in 2018, he graded out as one of the league’s ten worst ‘backers.
Still, he is not too far removed from high-end production, and his fit in Las Vegas is obvious. The Raiders released Tahir Whitehead on Monday, and recent reports have indicated that Marquel Lee is likely the only linebacker who will return next season.
Raiders’ Gabe Jackson Drawing Trade Interest
The Raiders have discussed potential trades involving guard Gabe Jackson, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). As it stands, he’s due a non-guaranteed salary of $9.6MM in 2020. Other teams are intrigued by the possibility of adding the veteran, though they may seek to work out a revised deal with him. 
The Raiders selected Jackson in the third round of the 2014 draft and quickly thrust him into the starting lineup. He’s been a first-string player throughout his career, though injuries have cost him some time, including a 2019 knee malady that limited him to just eleven contests.
Jackson has been viewed as a release candidate this season due to his health and salary, so it’s not a shock to hear that he has been discussed in trade talks. Jackson might not fetch a huge haul for Jon Gruden & Co., but he could return some extra draft ammo for April.
Last year, the Raiders turned to Richie Incognito after Jackson’s injury and Denzelle Good was promoted to the starting lineup to fill the remaining guard gap. Good recently re-upped with the Raiders on a one-year, $2.3MM deal with $1.7MM guaranteed.
Raiders Release LB Tahir Whitehead
Tahir Whitehead‘s Raiders run will end after two seasons. The team released the veteran linebacker on Monday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The Raiders have since announced the move.
One season remained on Whitehead’s three-year, $19MM deal. The Raiders cutting Whitehead will save them $6.25MM, bumping their cap-space figure up north of $56MM.
Set to turn 30 in two weeks, Whitehead provided durability in Oakland. Part of Jon Gruden‘s initial free agency class upon coming back to the NFL, Whitehead started all 32 Raiders games during his tenure. He has not missed a start since the 2016 season and has only missed three games in his eight-year career. The former Lions starter also extended his streak of 100-tackle seasons to four during the Raiders’ Oakland swansong, posting 108 stops.
Whitehead was by far Oakland’s tackles leader in each of his two seasons there, registering 126 in 2018. But he is no longer in line to be part of the franchise’s Las Vegas run.
This will leave the Raiders in need at multiple linebacker spots. They relied on Whitehead last year after signings of Vontaze Burfict and Brandon Marshall did not work out. Although Burfict has since been reinstated from his suspension, the perpetual suspension risk is certainly no lock to come back. No Gruden-era draftee resides on Las Vegas’ roster at linebacker, pointing the Raiders toward addressing this area in both free agency and the draft.
Raiders Interested In Nick Vigil
- The Raiders are believed to be interested in signing linebacker Nick Vigil, sources told Adam Caplan of Sirius XM NFL Radio and Insidethebirds.com. Vigil, an impending free agent, spent the first four years of his career with the Bengals. He started all 16 games for Cincy this past season, racking up 111 tackles and five passes defended. Vigil will likely be seeking a decent-sized contract, and he should have a relatively strong market. Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther coached Vigil in Cincinnati, so there’s a lot of familiarity between the two sides.
Raiders Interested In Marcus Mariota
It looks the Raiders’ quarterback search has taken a turn. Instead of mounting a full-force pursuit for Tom Brady, the Raiders are now likelier to add a backup type to compete with Derek Carr, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reports (via NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal, on Twitter), adding that Marcus Mariota is a Raider target.
The Raiders have been linked to Brady for several weeks, but not much has emerged on that front for a while. And the Titans appear to have moved ahead of the AFC West teams in their run at Brady. Their former first-round pick has options elsewhere.
The Raiders, Patriots and Colts have been connected to Mariota, and Garafolo points out the former Heisman Trophy winner was then-NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock‘s top-rated quarterback in 2015 (Twitter link).
Jon Gruden has sought a potential upgrade on Carr for a while now, and while Mariota does not profile as such, this is nonetheless an interesting development. The Raiders would be able to preserve more of their cap space with a Mariota addition than they would if they were to authorize a $30MM-plus-AAV deal for Brady. Las Vegas is interested in high-priced cornerbacks Byron Jones and Chris Harris.
Both Mariota and Carr peaked in 2016, with the former throwing 26 touchdown passes and the latter finishing third in the MVP voting that season. On Christmas Eve 2016, both players suffered broken legs. Mariota has fallen further than Carr since, totaling just 24 TD tosses in 29 games from 2017-18 and being benched for Ryan Tannehill midway through what became a Titans AFC championship game run last season. Carr finished 2019 with the best QBR (63.7, 10th in the league) of his career, doing so after the Raiders’ offense lost would-be No. 1 wide receiver Antonio Brown just before the season.
FA Notes: Clowney, Harris, Hooper, Saints
Jadeveon Clowney has drawn interest from other teams — the Colts and Giants among them — but the Seahawks remain interested in bringing him back. However, they may not be ready to pay top dollar for the former No. 1 overall pick. The Seahawks are trying to extend Clowney before he hits free agency March 18, but Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano of ESPN.com report the franchise is unlikely to compete with a true top-market price (ESPN+ link). If the bidding goes into the $18-$20MM-per-year range, which it almost certainly will given other teams’ franchise tags keeping edge players off the market, the Seahawks are not expected to go there. This would mean the Seahawks will have lost two standout edge rushers in two years, after trading Frank Clark to the Chiefs. Seattle, which did not see much from first-round defensive end L.J. Collier last season, is set to carry more than $44MM in cap space.
Both the Colts and Titans are interested and are not afraid of Clowney’s asking price, per Fowler and Graziano. A new entry in the Clowney sweepstakes, Tennessee could use edge help but seemingly has key issues to sort out involving Ryan Tannehill (or a replacement) and Derrick Henry first.
Here is the latest from the free agency market, shifting to one of this era’s top cornerbacks:
- Chris Harris appears set to have a busy legal tampering period. The four-time Pro Bowl cornerback has drawn interest from the Cowboys, Jets, Lions, Raiders and Texans, Troy Renck of Denver7 tweets. The final holdover from the Broncos’ dominant Super Bowl-winning secondary, Harris both expressed a desire to finish his career in Denver and hit the market for the first time. While the Broncos have not ruled out another extension for the 30-year-old cornerback, Harris expects to be elsewhere in 2020. Harris met with at least 24 teams at the Combine, including the Cowboys, per Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). A Cowboys fit would be interesting, with the team set to lose Byron Jones. The Broncos are one of the teams targeting Jones.
- In Demario Davis, the Saints already have a 30-something entrenched as a starting linebacker. However, New Orleans is interested in Patriots free agent Jamie Collins, Larry Holder of The Athletic notes (subscription required). Collins, 30, enjoyed a bounce-back season back in New England, after he did not justify his then-off-ball-‘backer-record deal in Cleveland. The Saints have A.J. Klein as a free agent-to-be and can save $8MM by releasing Kiko Alonso.
- While the Saints were willing to let Kenny Vaccaro walk two years ago, they want to retain Vonn Bell, Holder adds. It would be at a price, however. Considering the Saints added promising safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson in the fourth round last year and have Marcus Williams as an extension candidate, their Bell price point may be low.
- The tight end landscape could look strange by the time George Kittle‘s negotiations ramp up. Austin Hooper is expected to become the league’s highest-paid tight end — by a considerable margin — in free agency, Graziano and Fowler note. A 2016 third-round pick, Hooper has made the Pro Bowl twice but has only one 700-yard season on his resume. However, the Falcons tight end was on pace for nearly 1,000 yards before a midseason hamstring injury. The Falcons will let Hooper test the market, and with this draft not deep at tight end, the market will likely be robust. The Bears, Packers and Redskins are interested.
- Phillip Lindsay has exploded out of the blocks to start his career, becoming the first UDFA to start his NFL run with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. But backfield mate Royce Freeman, a Broncos 2018 third-round pick, has underwhelmed. The Broncos may be eyeing an upgrade, with Mike Klis of 9News tweeting the team is exploring veteran backs on the market. With teams potentially skittish about big deals for backs, after some recent ones backfired, some bigger-name backs may be available at reasonable rates.