Oakland Raiders re-sign Brandon Marshall to bolster linebacker core

The Oakland Raiders have re-signed veteran linebacker Brandon Marshall after various injuries and misfortunes to the team’s linebackers.

The Oakland Raiders needed to make a move for a linebacker this week and they did just that. However, they didn’t go out and make a trade as many had expected, instead opting to re-sign veteran Brandon Marshall.

The Raiders have suffered an incredible amount of bad luck at the linebacker position this season and the unit is as thin at it’s been all season. But there was reason for optimism in the offseason despite what’s been a difficult few weeks.

Oakland brought in both Marshall and former Pro Bowler Vontaze Burfict from Cincinnati and the two were expected to play alongside 2018 holdover Tahir Whitehead to give the team some stability at the position.

Unfortunately, that didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Marshall was released as a part of final roster cuts with the younger Nicholas Morrow beating him out for his starting job. And Burfict played in just four games for the Raiders before being a dealt a historic season-long suspension by the NFL.

To make matters worse, former fifth-round pick Marquel Lee was placed on the injured reserve around the same time after suffering an ankle injury.

That left Whitehead and Morrow as the only two feasible starters at the position with special teamers like Justin Phillips, Dakota Allen, and Kyle Wilber occupying other roster spots.

As a result, the Raiders were expected to inquire about a possible trade to acquire a linebacker prior to the trade deadline. The issue was made even more pressing when it was announced that Phillips had suffered a season-ending knee injury in Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans.

Even Whiteahd came out of the game worse for wear, per head coach Jon Gruden.

And while the attention was focused on whether the Raiders would make a trade or not, the team decided to bring back a familiar face in Marshall instead.

The 30-year-old has been a starter n the league for the past five seasons and served a key role in the Denver Broncos’ dominant defense of prior years. He’s clearly lost, but he’s better than any other option they have now.

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Allen and Wilber have almost exclusively played special teams and it seems unwise to continue to play five defensive backs at most times. Marshall’s arrival will allow defensive coordinator Paul Guenther to utilize a base 4-3 package more than he has been.

Not only was turning to free agency to bolster the position the unexpected move, but signing Marshall wasn’t something that many expected either — even if it did make a ton of sense.

The recently-released Zach Brown represented an intriguing option available on the open market if the Raiders were willing to out-bid a few teams. Not to mention the fact that the Raiders brought veteran linebacker Will Compton in for a visit on Tuesday as well.

But instead of choosing between the two, the Raiders have seemingly decided to sign both.

Brandon Marshall’s return is one that should be met with caution and patience as it’s unlikely that he’s the player that most Raiders fans want him to be.

But it’s hard to say that he’s anything but a massive improvement for the Raiders.