The Las Vegas Raiders have so many unrestricted free agents on their roster, around 25 to be exact, and the majority of them are on the defensive side of the ball. That means they will be spending quite a bit of money on that side this offseason. And, that's fine, because this team needs to spend the money somewhere, or they won't have any players on their roster.
One of the bigger positions they need in free agency is linebacker, as they have their second-best defensive player last year, largely because Christian Wilkins was hurt, as a free agent. Robert Spillane could be gone this offseason for all we know, and that's the quarterback of the defense.
The Raiders could explore the option of bringing him back, or, they may bring in a familiar face -- a guy who quarterbacked one of the greatest defenses of all time with the Seattle Seahawks. Or they could get both guys.
"I thought it was a remarkable season that he had in many ways," Pete Carroll said of Washington Commanders free agent linebacker Bobby Wagner. "I know he was a great asset to Danny [Dan Quinn] putting together the system and the approach and the principles and stuff. We all kind of grew up in the same ways, so the message and the voice that Bobby had on that club, particularly with the quarterback, the relationship that he established, was irreplaceable for them.
"And so I know Bobby is a free agent... You might be surprised how much we all communicate, all the guys from back in the day. We still communicate and watch each other and share stories and the whole thing. It's been really fun to watch our guys. Did you see Marshawn [Lynch] at our press conference
The Raiders don't need Wagner to be a starting-caliber player. They just need him as a locker room guy and a guy that knows the defense. He was that for the Commanders, as Carroll mentioned, he helped install the defense for the guys that didn't know it, as Quinn was the DC with the Seahawks when they had the best defense of all time.
That's essentially the same system and defense that Carroll will run in Las Vegas. That's the biggest reason the Raiders should sign him, and he may not be too expensive either, so they could still afford Spillane to be the guy at the position.
And by the way, Carroll was talking about it, it sounds like they will be very interested in Wagner when free agency opens up.
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