The Las Vegas Raiders have been busy so far this offseason.
While Maxx Crosby’s extension and the trade for quarterback Geno Smith dominate the headlines, the Raiders have made a slew of impactful moves in free agency. While some notable players chose to go elsewhere in free agency, the Raiders have still been successful in bringing talent over to Las Vegas. Most of the new players feature on the defensive side of the ball, where the team has seen the most turnover.
On Thursday, fans were introduced to a few of these new defensive stalwarts.
Four free agent signings of the Raiders were in Las Vegas for media availability.
Safeties Jeremy Chinn and Lonnie Johnson Jr., cornerback Eric Stokes and linebacker Elandon Roberts sat down with reporters to discuss what they bring to the table for the Raiders.
“I mean, it’s the Raiders,” Roberts said. “What wouldn’t attract anyone to the Raiders? Just the foundation that was set with this organization way back, even before my time.”
A major part of what attracted all four players to the Raiders was the opportunity to play for head coach Pete Carroll’s defense, most notably drawing comparisons to his famed Legion of Boom defense that lead to the Seattle Seahawks winning their first Super Bowl in franchise history in 2014.
“I would say just hearing Coach Carroll’s plan, how he saw me featured in this defense and this team,” Chinn said about what convinced him to sign with the Raiders. “So, it was very intriguing for me.”
“Pretty much the defense that he wants to run, where he wants some guys to be able to play press man-to-man,” Stokes said during his own media availability. “I feel like that’s my strongest thing that I could do is play press man-to-man with my speed, with my length and all that stuff. And the way that he wants to use me, taking it back to the old corners they used to have, Richard Sherman, [Byron] Maxwell and all the people who he brought up. So, I was like, yeah, this is the type of person that I want to be in with.”
While all four players bring various skills to their respective positions, a common theme between all of them is they are not afraid to play a physical style of football, something that Carroll demands of his players.
“I think it just sends a message of how and what style of ball we want to play,” Roberts said. “But at the same time, I think being physical and being that type of player, you have to take into account that teams know that.”
Raiders fans will be excited to see how these four players, as well as the other additions to the roster, perform this season.