Oakland Raiders: Should the team sign free-agent linebacker Zach Brown?

The Oakland Raiders are in desperate need of some linebacker help and the recently-released Zach Brown could help mitigate the concern.

The Oakland Raiders have been searching for linebacker help for what feels like over a decade at this point and the search has continued into the 2019 season. But could they find their answer in free-agent linebacker Zach Brown?

Despite not addressing the position in the draft for the umpteenth year in a row, the Raiders did make a couple of moves to help out their linebacker core in the offseason. Veterans Vontaze Burfict and Brandon Marshall were signed in free agency to help sure up the position.

However, entering Week 7, neither player is on the active roster.

Marshall was released back in August as a part of final roster cuts and Burfict was recently, and somewhat controversially, suspended for the remainder of the season after a nasty helmet-to-helmet hit on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle.

Now, the Raiders are left with essentially what they had last season at the position — minus Marquel Lee who landed on the injured reserve back in September.

Tahir Whitehead and Nicholas Morrow have been the starters in the nickel package with the duo receiving nearly every snap in the team’s 24-21 victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 5. But outside of them, the depth chart is looking incredibly thin.

The only other linebackers under contract are three players who have almost exclusively been special-teamers to this point. Rookies Dakota Allen and Justin Phillips remain inexperienced and veteran Kyle Wilber has been a core special-teamer and nothing else for years now.

Even if the Raiders want to survive with the duo of Whitehead and Morrow, for the time being, the depth is scarily thin if either goes down with an injury. For that reason, someone like Brown makes a ton of sense.

Brown was released by the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday after starting the first six games of the season for them. His release could have something to do with some comments he made about Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins prior to Sunday’s loss.

Either way, Zach Brown was starting for an NFL team just a few days ago.

On top of that, the 29-year-old veteran was coming off an excellent 2018 season in which he ranked as Pro Football Focus’ No. 3 linebacker behind only Luke Kuechly and Bobby Wagner. That’s some pretty impressive company.

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Now, PFF grades can be misleading at times, but Brown has been a very capable starter in the league for a few years now having spent time previously with the Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, and eventually the Washington Redskins.

And for a Raiders team desperate for linebacker help, he could be the perfect fit.

The addition of Brown would give the team more flexibility with three starting-caliber linebackers to play in their base 4-3 package while also providing some much-needed depth in case another injury strikes either Whitehead or Morrow.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported that multiple teams are expected to be interested which could make signing him a bit tricky. But the payoff would be worth it for a Raiders team looking to make a playoff run.

While Zach Brown isn’t the solution to all of the Raiders’ linebacker problems, he would provide depth and stability to one of the weakest position groups on the team.

And it’s hard to pass that up at this stage of the season.