As the first day of the legal tampering period winded down, the Las Vegas Raiders made two moves before the curtain came down.
First, according to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, the Raiders are signing defensive back Lonnie Johnson Jr.
A second-round pick of the Houston Texans in 2019, Johnson has spent the last three seasons bouncing around the league before signing with the Raiders. Last with the Carolina Panthers, Johnson was a core special teamer and will likely fill a similar role in Las Vegas. He is the second safety that the Raiders signed on Monday along with Jeremy Chinn, as the team tries to fill the void left by new Panthers safety Tre’Von Moehrig.
Finally, to close out their day, the Raiders decided to add former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Elandon Roberts on a one-year, $3 million deal, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Roberts is coming off a down year with the Steelers, only recording 46 tackles in 2024. However, he had triple-digit tackles in the two seasons prior, and he had an excellent performance (14 tackles) in Pittsburgh’s wild-card loss to the Baltimore Ravens. He will fill new New England Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane’s role as the primary run-stopping linebacker in the middle of defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s defense.
Monday was just the start of what is shaping up to be a busy free agency period for the Raiders.
