Prioritizing The Oakland Raiders’ Free Agency Wish List By Need
By Kevin Saito
Oakland’s inside linebackers group has been a bit of a mess the last couple of seasons. It’s a toss up to see which was the bigger liability – the inside backers or the interior line. Either way, it’s a situation that needs to be addressed and fixed immediately.
With the Patriots choosing to not drop the tag on Dont’a Hightower, he’s set to hit the open market when the free agency window opens.
Hightower is the kind of impact player the Raiders could absolutely use on the inside of that second level of their defense. Able to defend the run and pass – as well as apply pressure to a quarterback – Hightower seems like the real deal.
And like the type of player who can help elevate this Raiders defense to a whole different level.
The Patriots and Dolphins, among other teams, are reportedly going to pursue Hightower when the free agency window opens. Which is no surprise given the type of impact player he is and has been. The problem though, comes down to dollars and cents.
Given the contracts recently handed out to Eric Berry of the Chiefs and Antonio Brown of the Steelers, Buccaneers GM Mark Dominik thinks that Hightower could “reset” the market for linebackers.
"“We’ve seen with Eric Berry resetting the market, Antonio Brown resetting the market, Hightower could reset the market. He really could. I think a lot of people probably look at him and say this is the type of leader, this is the type of winner I want on my football team.”"
If Dominik is right and Hightower “resets” the market, that could be bad news in terms of Oakland’s chances of signing him. But then, some might argue it’s worth paying a premium for a guy who could help elevate your defense to a championship caliber.