NFL Injury Updates: Seahawks, Packers, Olave, Hall
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold heads into Week 18 with a game that could cement his team as the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the second season in a row. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, he’s also looking to earn up to $1.5MM in incentives by throwing for at least 150 yards and three touchdowns and raising his passer rating (99.2) to 100. Unfortunately, he’ll be doing so without a few key pieces.
Starting left tackle Charles Cross has missed each of the team’s last two games, and according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times, he’ll be out for Week 18, as well. Backup swing tackle Josh Jones has played well in Cross’ absence these past two weeks and will be relied upon again in a winner-take-all matchup with the 49ers.
Curtis Crabtree of FOX Sports adds on that, although rookie fifth-round receiver Tory Horton is eligible to be activated off injured reserve, he is not expected to play again this season. The shin injury that’s kept him out since early November has likely ended his rookie campaign. Head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters, “The best way I can describe it is just, what he has, it just takes a long time to heal…we’re not planning on having him.”
Here are a few other injury updates from around the NFL:
- Packers head coach Matt LaFleur gave updates on the two defensive backs recently placed on injured reserve earlier this week. Both safety Zayne Anderson and cornerback Nate Hobbs suffered injuries in the team’s home loss to Baltimore. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, LaFleur told the media that he didn’t anticipate either player being able to return in time for the playoffs, so both players were put on IR to make room on the 53-man roster for players who can contribute in the postseason.
- Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was a surprise scratch for the team’s regular season finale. According to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, a blood clot was detected in Olave’s lung, though it was caught early, “before anything bad could happen,” and the 25-year-old will be fine. ESPN’s Adam Schefter added that Olave has no prior history with blood clots and that the injury should sideline him for about four weeks before he’ll be ready for any offseason activities.
- The Bills are locked into a wild card slot in the playoffs, though their exact seeding is still up in the air. They should have a fairly easy Week 18 matchup against a tanking Jets team, but they’ll be going into it without rookie defensive tackle Deone Walker, per Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN. A fourth-round pick out of Kentucky, Walker has stepped up as a starter for nearly all of his rookie year as Ed Oliver, T.J. Sanders, Jordan Phillips, Larry Ogunjobi, and DaQuan Jones have all missed time at different points of the year.
- Speaking of the tanking Jets, already without quarterback Justin Fields and wide receiver Garrett Wilson, New York has also now ruled out running back Breece Hall, according to Schefter. This means Hall may have already played his final game in a Jets uniform, as the 24-year-old is set to hit free agency at the end of the season. According to Rich Cimini, also of ESPN, the Jets are expected to at least attempt to retain him, but Hall may be tempted to test the market. Cimini doesn’t rule out that franchise/transition tags may enter the picture. With all the absences on offense, the Jets starting group will be led by Brady Cook at quarterback, Khalil Herbert and Kene Nwangwu at running back, and John Metchie III, Adonai Mitchell, and Isaiah Williams at receiver. Per Cimini, starting cornerback Brandon Stephens will miss the Jets’ final game of the season, as well.
- The Ravens have a win-or-go-home game tomorrow night against the division-rival Steelers, but they will be heading into the matchup without wide receiver Rashod Bateman after ruling him out for the weekend. Bateman missed practice all week with illness and will not travel to Pittsburgh.
Packers Claim CB Trevon Diggs
JANUARY 1: The Packers were the only team to submit a claim in this case, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reports. Diggs could see time right away and a familiar face on the sidelines will help in that regard. As Rapoport notes, Packers defensive pass-game coordinator Derrick Ansley was Diggs’ secondary coach at Alabama. It will be interesting to see if that dynamic helps spark a rebound in play late in the campaign.
Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley expressed to the media that “he wants (Diggs) to play on Sunday against the Vikings.” Hafley made sure to emphasize that they “need to make sure that he’s ready to go” and didn’t make any promises, but both Diggs and his coaches seem to want him on the field this weekend.
DECEMBER 31: One day after the Cowboys cut him, cornerback Trevon Diggs will land with a playoff team. The Packers have claimed Diggs off waivers, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports.
In claiming Diggs, the Packers will commit to paying his $472K game check for Week 18. He’ll earn another $58,823 if he’s active against the Vikings this Sunday, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. Beyond that, there’s no guaranteed money left on Diggs’ contract. However, he remains under team control through 2028 on the five-year, $97MM extension he signed with Dallas in July 2023.
Diggs, a 2020 second-round pick from Alabama, scored his enormous payday after a scintillating start to his career. He made the Pro Bowl twice in his first three years, a stretch in which he intercepted 17 passes. He finished with a jaw-dropping 11 picks in 2021, the most in a season since former Cowboy Everson Walls came down with 11 in 1981, en route to first-team All-Pro honors.
Diggs’ 11-INT showing remains his only 17-game season to date. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder has dealt with a laundry list of injuries since then. An ACL tear limited Diggs to two games in 2023. He missed six more games in 2024 as a result of a calf tear and another knee surgery. It was more of the same in Diggs’ last hurrah with the Cowboys, who placed him on IR with lingering knee problems and a concussion on Oct. 25. He played in just eight of Dallas’ 16 games this year before the team cut him.
The Cowboys opened Diggs’ 21-day practice window on Nov. 30, but they didn’t activate him until Dec. 20. It came as a surprise after Diggs indicated he was healthy enough to play the previous week. He said he was “upset“ the Cowboys didn’t activate him in Week 15. It wasn’t the first disagreement between Diggs and first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
The decision to move on from Diggs reportedly came on the heels of Schottenheimer denying the Maryland-born defender’s request to remain in Washington after the Cowboys’ Christmas Day win over the Commanders. Diggs, who wanted to stay with his family, ignored Schottenheimer’s orders and skipped the team’s flight back to Dallas. That may have sealed his fate with the Cowboys.
While Diggs and Schottenheimer clashed, a massive decline in the corner’s effectiveness was likely the main reason Dallas parted with him. The 27-year-old has gone without an interception this season, and Pro Football Focus ranks his performance 80th among 113 qualifiers at his position. Worse yet, according to Pro-Football-Reference, Diggs has yielded a 77.3% completion rate to the nearest receiver and a 157.2 passer rating over a sample of 22 targets. A perfect rating checks in at 158.3.
Although Diggs has struggled immensely this year, the Packers aren’t risking much in claiming him. The Packers will be able to move on after the season if they want, and they desperately need healthy cornerbacks right now.
Locked into the seventh seed in the NFC with one game left, the Packers are dangerously thin at corner behind Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine. Green Bay placed Kamal Hadden on IR on Tuesday and did the same with Nate Hobbs on Wednesday, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. Hobbs, who has played in 11 games and started five this year, will miss at least four contests with a knee injury.
Diggs, Shemar Bartholomew and Jaylin Simpson will provide the Packers a few more game-ready options at the position. The Packers signed Bartholomew and Simpson from their practice squad to their active roster on Tuesday.
Packers S Evan Williams Could Miss Time With MCL Sprain
Packers safety Evan Williams could miss time with an MCL sprain suffered in Sunday’s loss to the Broncos.
Williams went down on the same play on Micah Parson‘s ACL tear, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. Williams’ injury is not thought to be severe, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, but the team would rather ensure that he is healthy for the playoffs rather than risk a re-aggravation.
The 2024 fourth-round pick earned a starting role as partway through his rookie season, though he missed four games due to hamstring and quad injuries. This year, he has a 91% snap share and ranks third on the team in tackles (92) and passes defended (five).
The Packers have used Williams and Xavier McKinney for virtually all of their safety snaps this year. Third on the team is Javon Bullard with 34 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). The 2024 second-rounder has primarily lined up in the slot this season, but he does have plenty of experience as a free safety after splitting time with Williams last year.
If Green Bay puts Bullard in Williams’ role, they will likely move Nate Hobbs or Keisean Nixon into the slot. Both players have plenty of experience there, though not this season. Hobbs began the year as a starter on the outside but was replaced by Carrington Valentine by the end of October. Hobbs then missed four games due to injury; upon his return, he resumed his participation in the Packers’ dime packages. Nixon, meanwhile, has started on the boundary all year. It would make sense for him and Valentine to stay put with Hobbs returning to his past role as the Raiders’ nickel.
Williams will hope to recover quickly, if not before the end of the season, then by the playoffs. The 9-4 Packers currently sit in second place in the NFC North and own the third wild card spot in the NFC.
The Packers are expected to have Christian Watson on the field for Saturday night’s face-off with the Bears. Watson suffered chest and shoulder injuries in Week 15, but said (via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic) that he is “feeling pretty good for everything considered.”
“I think it’ll be alright for the game,” Watson added. “We’re at the point in the season where you gotta fight through some stuff, so should be good.”
Packers’ Nate Hobbs Undergoes Knee Surgery; CB Could Be Available In Week 1
Nate Hobbs will likely not participate in the remainder of the Packers’ training camp. The free agent signing underwent knee surgery over the weekend, as first reported by Sports Illustrated’s Bill Huber. 
Hobbs was dealing with a partial meniscus tear, ESPN’s Rob Demovsky adds. Playing through the issue could have been an option, but this preventative procedure has instead taken place with the aim of avoiding any missed time during the regular season. The surgery was a success, per Demovsky, who notes Hobbs is expected to miss the rest of camp.
That means the 26-year-old will be unavailable for Green Bay’s preseason contests, although he was already unlikely to take part in those. If Hobbs’ recovery goes as planned, he could still be back in time for Week 1. A clean bill of health would of course be key in this case given the investment made by the Packers on the open market.
After playing out his rookie contract with the Raiders, Hobbs was among the top cornerbacks in this year’s free agent class. He landed a four-year, $48MM pact with Green Bay. While the deal only contains $16MM guaranteed at signing, expectations are high for the former fifth-rounder as the Packers prepare for their first season since 2017 without Jaire Alexander in the fold. Hobbs could see notable time on the perimeter as well as in the slot this season while the team sorts out its best arrangement in the secondary.
News of Hobbs’ surgery and required absence helps explain the Packers’ recent decision to bring back Corey Ballentine. The veteran spent the past three years with Green Bay, making 37 appearances and seven starts. Ballentine is back in the fold as a healthy cornerback option for the time being, and he will look to earn a roster spot ahead of cutdowns later this month. Hobbs, meanwhile, will aim to recover in time for the start of the regular season.
Packers Plan To Use Nate Hobbs, Other Top CBs Interchangeably
Over the course of his four seasons in the NFL, new Packers cornerback Nate Hobbs has played more than twice as many snaps in the slot than on the boundaries. So, when the 2021 Raiders draftee left Las Vegas for Green Bay this offseason by way of a four-year, $48MM contract, our Sam Robinson noted that Hobbs had set a new high-water mark for slot defenders if the Packers indeed plan to deploy him in that capacity.
While Hobbs will surely see plenty of action in the slot in Wisconsin, the club has something of a hybrid role in mind for him, as detailed by Jason Wilde of Channel3000.com. Per Wilde, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley wants to compensate for the roster’s lack of a true shutdown corner by using Hobbs, Keisean Nixon, and Carrington Valentine interchangeably.
During OTAs and mandatory minicamp, Hobbs sometimes lined up across from Nixon on the boundary in base packages. In nickel looks, Valentine came onto the field and played outside the numbers while Nixon and Hobbs shared time in the slot and out wide.
“Nate can play outside and Nate can play inside. So we’re going to have him do both,” Hafley said. “When you’re getting ready for free agency and you’re evaluating tape, it’s one thing that you love about him. He’s had a lot of success inside, and I thought his tape outside was equally as good.”
The Packers had hoped that Jaire Alexander, who landed a then-CB-record four-year deal worth $84MM in May 2022, would serve as their No. 1 corner for the long haul. Unfortunately, Alexander’s injury problems contributed to his release last month, thus increasing the pressure on Green Bay’s current top trio.
Nixon, 28, has played nearly 2,000 defensive snaps over the past two seasons thanks in large part to Alexander’s lack of availability, and he has acquitted himself reasonably well. Last season, one year after spending most of his time in the slot, he led the Packers in snaps as a boundary corner and limited opposing passers to a 57.5% completion percentage and 78.9 QB rating as the nearest defender. He also earned First Team All-Pro acclaim for his work as a kick returner in the 2022-23 seasons.
Valentine, a 2023 seventh-rounder, has been pressed into starting duty in each of his two pro seasons, lining up almost exclusively outside the numbers. It sounds as if the club will give him a greater opportunity to show off his versatility this year, and 2024 second-rounder Javon Bullard remains an option to see extensive work as a nickel CB, just as he did as a rookie (although Bullard is not mentioned in Wilde’s piece).
Despite the impressive AAV on his new contract, Hobbs received only $16MM in guaranteed money. So, while Green Bay would take on a $12MM dead money hit if it were to part ways following the 2025 slate, such a maneuver would not be prohibitive and would actually yield a modicum of cap savings. To preserve his future earning power, then, Hobbs will need to live up to his team’s hopes for his multifaceted skill set.
For right now, that does not appear to be a concern.
“He is competitive, he’s tough, he is physical, he plays the game fast,” Hafley said of Hobbs. “You can tell he loves it. It just jumps off the tape. That versatility, where you can move him around and again, I’m a big fan of that.”
Assessing Packers’ CB Options Absent Jaire Alexander
As longtime starting cornerback Jaire Alexander‘s future with the team remains in question, the Packers have had to put together a depth chart under the assumption that he won’t be on it. With the team having to determine who starts at the outside spots, the candidates to fill the slot come into question, as well. The clear candidates for that nickel role are second-year safety Javon Bullard and free agent addition Nate Hobbs. 
Bullard, a safety drafted in the second round out of Georgia last year, was relegated to a role in the slot after Evan Williams, drafted two rounds after him, was granted the starting safety job next to Xavier McKinney. The second-round rookie led the team in snaps as the nickelback as a result, just barely outpacing veteran Keisean Nixon. Nixon, though, is not a candidate for the inside assignment, after he led the team in snaps on the outside. He is likely expected to man one of the two starting spots on the outside once again in 2025.
Hobbs spent three years of his rookie contract, including the most recent two seasons, as the Raiders primary option in the slot. His sophomore campaign, though, saw him primarily play as an outside corner, starting all 11 games that he played in that year. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, this experience on the outside could mean that Hobbs will be asked to start across from Nixon, in the presumed absence of Alexander.
Carrington Valentine is another option to start on the outside. He’s opened both of his two seasons in the NFL coming off the bench but has found himself in eventual starting positions in both years, as well, starting 19 games over that span. Schneidman predicts that Valentine will be coming off the bench to start the season for the third time in a row, serving as the third option at outside cornerback behind Nixon and Hobbs.
While the potential absence of Alexander certainly poses a challenge, thinning the depth of the team’s secondary, the Packers certainly have options they can employ. Whether it’s as Schneidman predicts with Nixon and Hobbs manning the outside and Bullard in the slot or Nixon and Valentine starting on the outside with Hobbs continuing his nickel role, Green Bay should have the ability to field a starting unit sans Alexander.
Contract Details: Allen, Bills, Bears, Giants, Adebo, Packers, Hobbs, Chiefs, Saints
Starting with one monster Bills extension and another big-ticket deal, here are the latest contract details from around the NFL:
- Josh Allen, QB (Bills): Six years, $330MM. Classified as a two-year add-on that provides the reigning MVP with a roughly $90MM raise, the deal includes some key dates. On fully guaranteed salaries in 2025 and ’26, Allen will see all of his 2027 pay become fully guaranteed on Day 5 of the 2026 league year, per OverTheCap. On Day 5 of the 2027 league year, Allen’s 53.5MM salary locks in. $14MM of Allen’s 2029 roster bonus ($22.3MM) becomes guaranteed on Day 5 of the 2028 league year. Allen will be due a $35MM roster bonus on Day 5 of the 2029 league year. He is tied to a $41.3MM cap number in 2025, but restructures are likely coming; his cap hit spikes to $61.4MM in 2026.
- Gregory Rousseau, DE (Bills). Four years, $80MM. Rousseau will see $49MM guaranteed at signing, OverTheCap notes, while his 2025 and ’26 base salaries are fully guaranteed. The Bills are providing guarantees into Year 3, as KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes that $5MM of Rousseau’s $16.41MM base is locked in already. The rest will shift from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee on Day 5 of the 2027 league year. A $3MM roster bonus is also in place on Day 5 of the 2029 league year.
- Paulson Adebo, CB (Giants). Three years, $54MM. The young cornerback will see $34.75MM guaranteed at signing. Despite Adebo only signing a three-year deal, that full guarantee ranks 10th among corners. The Giants guaranteed $13.5MM of Adebo’s $17.25MM 2026 salary, ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell tweets. The rest becomes guaranteed on Day 5 of the 2026 league year.
- Dayo Odeyingbo, DE (Bears): Three years, $48MM. The ex-Colt will see $29.5MM guaranteed at signing, per OverTheCap. $13MM of Odeyingbo’s $15.5MM 2026 base salary is guaranteed at signing, with Wilson adding the rest locks in on Day 3 of the 2026 league year. A $1MM roster bonus is also due on Day 5 of the 2027 league year; Odeyingbo’s 2027 base is nonguaranteed.
- Nate Hobbs, CB (Packers). Four years, $48MM. While Hobbs is guaranteed $16MM at signing, the general Packers contract structure resurfaces here. Reminding of Josh Jacobs‘ 2024 deal (also 4/48), his former Raiders teammate has no guarantees beyond that $16MM signing bonus, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio notes. A $6.25MM roster bonus is due on Day 3 of the 2026 league year, Wilson tweets. The Packers typically do not guarantee second-year salaries, but they would be out $12MM in dead money if they move in on 2026 — due to signing bonus prorations.
- Darius Slayton, WR (Giants). Three years, $36MM. Now on a third Giants contract, Slayton will receive $22MM at signing, Wilson tweets. That is $10MM more than his second contract was worth in total. Slayton’s 2026 salary is mostly guaranteed, with Wilson adding $9.75MM of that $12.25MM is locked in. A $2.5MM roster bonus in place on Day 5 of the 2027 league year.
- Juwan Johnson, TE (Saints). Three years, $30.75MM. Johnson will see $21.25MM at signing, with Wilson adding his 2025 and ’26 base salaries are guaranteed. Johnson’s 2027 paragraph 5 number ($7.5MM) is nonguaranteed, but a $2MM roster bonus is due on Day 5 of the 2027 league year.
- Jaylon Moore, T (Chiefs). Two years, $30MM. The Chiefs are guaranteeing their new left tackle hopeful $21.24MM at signing. A career-long 49ers backup, Moore will see $7MM of his $14.24MM 2026 base salary guaranteed at signing, Wilson tweets.
Packers, CB Nate Hobbs Agree To Terms
Mentioned as a player who could move toward the top tier of the slot cornerback market, Nate Hobbs has done so. The Packers are adding the four-year Raiders regular.
Hobbs is heading to Green Bay on a four-year, $48MM deal, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. The veteran slot defender will see $16MM guaranteed. This comes after a season that featured Keisean Nixon playing more on the outside. If the Packers indeed have a slot-only role for Hobbs planned, this is that market’s new ceiling. Incentives could take the deal to $50MM, ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky adds.
The only slot corner included on PFR’s Top 50 Free Agents list, Hobbs has drawn trade interest in the past. The 49ers were among the teams to pursue him, but no deal came to pass, keeping Hobbs in Las Vegas. The Raiders have now lost three of their free agent defenders, seeing Tre’von Moehrig join the Panthers and Robert Spillane agree to terms with the Patriots.
A decade after All-Decade slot corner Chris Harris moved past $8MM per year, the slot market still resided south of $10MM AAV entering the 2024 offseason. Movement took place involving veterans Kenny Moore and Taron Johnson, with younger Jets slot Michael Carter topping both. Hobbs’ Packers deal, AAV-wise at least, checks in $1.75MM north of where Carter took the market last summer.
The 6-foot corner played roughly three-fourths of his 2024 snaps inside; he was also slot-focused in 2023, logging 504 of his 775 defensive snaps there. Pro Football Focus ranked Hobbs 73rd among CB regulars in 2024 but has placed him higher (42nd in 2023, fifth in 2021) in the past. If Hobbs is indeed the Pack’s slot preference, Javon Bullard‘s role would stand to change.
Hobbs, 25, will join a Packers team widely expected to bid farewell to Jaire Alexander‘s $21MM-per-year contract. The Packers have shopped the high-priced corner to no avail. The team still has Nixon and Carrington Valentine rostered, but work may remain as underwhelming first-rounder Eric Stokes joins Corey Ballentine in hitting free agency.
CB Notes: Reed, Jets, Davis, Ward, Packers, Alexander, Hobbs, Raiders
As is the case at wide receiver, the cornerback market will feature several players who have been in free agency before. A handful of this batch of third-contract-seeking cover men, however, are under 30. D.J. Reed may lead this contingent, with SNY’s Connor Hughes indicating the three-year Jets starter is believed to be the top free agent corner on the market. The Jets are not expected to re-sign Reed, per Hughes and The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt. This is certainly not too surprising, as the team paid slot corner Michael Carter last summer and has a top-market deal with Sauce Gardner on the horizon. Reed saw the writing on the wall as well, saying before his contract year he would test free agency. He has continued to point to an exit for months, and the former 49ers and Seahawks CB — who will turn 29 during the 2025 season — will soon see a strong market.
Here is the latest from the cornerback ranks:
- The Eagles took two 30-something CB contracts (for Darius Slay and James Bradberry) off their payroll this week, leaving the market for experienced vets at the position thin. Beyond Jalen Ramsey, Chidobe Awuzie (three years, $36MM) is the only boundary corner attached to an eight-figure-per-year salary on a third contract. That number should expand soon, with the cap going up by another $24MM and a host of late-20-somethings hitting the market. Two more names who should do well: Carlton Davis and Charvarius Ward. Davis and Ward’s markets could reach the “high teens” in terms of AAV, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz notes. That would be a substantial jump from where Awuzie is. Davis and Ward are each 28 and coming off three-year contracts, with the Buccaneers having traded Davis’ to the Lions. The 49ers extending Deommodore Lenoir points Ward out of town, while Davis did not discuss an extension with the Lions before season’s end. The Jaguars have been connected to the former Super Bowl LV starter.
- Another late-20-something corner could be joining this quartet soon. Although the Packers are shopping Jaire Alexander, Schultz adds many NFL staffers expect the team to move on via release. The Packers have been viewed as highly unlikely to keep the 28-year-old CB another year, as injuries keep intervening during a $21MM-per-year contract. Two years remain on Alexander’s accord. The Pack could save $17.1MM by designating Alexander as a post-June 1 cut; they would need to wait until the start of the 2025 league year (March 12) to cut him in that case.
- Not all of the notable corners hitting free agency will be gunning for a third contract. Nate Hobbs joins Paulson Adebo and Asante Samuel Jr. as regular starters set to test the market for the first time. Adebo is expected to, despite suffering a broken femur in October, garner significant interest. The Saints are interested in re-signing him. Hobbs is close to seeing an interesting market emerge. Despite an inability to stay healthy, the Raiders slot corner is being mentioned as a player who could command Kenny Moore-level money, The Athletic’s Tashan Reed notes, adding that significant interest is coming the four-year vet’s way. Moore’s third Colts contract came in at three years, $30MM last March. Taron Johnson soon upped the slot market to just beyond $10MM per annum. Although Hobbs is not as proven as those two players, he did generate trade interest from the 49ers and has four years of experience patrolling the slot for the Raiders.
Zamir White Expected To Be Raiders’ RB Starter; Jack Jones ‘Set’ As Starting CB
One of the more eventful days in running back history, transactionally speaking, occurred March 11. More than a third of the league either signed a veteran starter or lost one, with several clubs in both camps. The Raiders ended up only in the first section, losing Josh Jacobs to the Packers hours into the legal tampering period.
More moves affecting 2023 starters occurred soon after, as the Raiders added primary Vikings first-stringer Alexander Mattison a week into free agency. While Mattison worked as Minnesota’s initial Dalvin Cook replacement last year, the Raiders might not be readying a competition to fill the spot Jacobs held for five years.
[RELATED: Raiders’ Josh Jacobs Offer Not Close To Packers’ Proposal]
The Raiders brought in Mattison as a player who will work as a sidekick to Zamir White, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore. White filled in for Jacobs as the Las Vegas starter over the final four games last season. He totaled 100-plus rushing yards in two of those tilts. Two seasons remain on White’s rookie contract, giving him a path to take over as a multiyear option for the Raiders.
The Vikings released Mattison one year into a two-year contract; the Raiders gave him a one-year, $2MM deal. The former third-round pick’s run as Cook’s replacement did not go well. While the Vikings look to have picked the right offseason to jettison Cook, their run game ranked 29th. Mattison averaged 3.9 yards per carry and did not score a rushing touchdown. The Vikings joined the Raiders in investing a 2022 Day 3 pick on a back (Ty Chandler), and Jacobs’ Green Bay arrival led Aaron Jones to Minneapolis. Mattison, 25, fared better as a Cook spot starter in prior years; the Raiders will give him a chance to mix in behind White, who is going into his age-25 season.
Elsewhere on the Las Vegas depth chart, Bonsignore adds Jack Jones is “set” as a starting cornerback. The ex-Patriots draftee is on track to work as one of the Raiders’ boundary starters, with a competition in the works for the role alongside he and slot cog Nate Hobbs. Considering where Jones stood prior to the Raiders claiming him, a route to a clear-cut starting role is interesting.
Jones undoubtedly benefited from ownership’s decision to remove Antonio Pierce‘s interim tag. Pierce coached Jones at both Long Beach Poly High and then at Arizona State. Jones, 26, ran into off-field trouble in college and in the NFL. An arrest for trying to bring a loaded gun onto a plane overshadowed Jones’ 2023 offseason, and the 2022 fourth-round pick fell out of favor with Bill Belichick late last season. The Patriots waived Jones after he had missed curfew in Germany.
The Raiders upped the talented corner’s usage rate shortly after the November waiver claim, using him as a starter over the final three games. Jones delivered a memorable stretch, which included pick-sixes in back-to-back games. A 2022 starter who encountered speedbumps last year — which also featured an IR stint following a September hamstring injury — Jones is on steadier ground with his second NFL team.
The team let Amik Robertson walk (to the Lions) in free agency and did not draft a corner until Round 4. The Raiders used fourth- and seventh-round picks at the position, but the team is planning to have Jones and Hobbs as locked-in starters. Jakorian Bennett and the reacquired Brandon Facyson may be the early leaders for the other boundary CB job, Bonsignore adds, with the rookies (Decamerion Richardson, M.J. Devonshire) in the mix now as well.