This year’s offseason is truly imperative for the Las Vegas Raiders in their quest to start winning immediately. Pete Carroll is fully committed to building a team that’s ready to win now, not some years down the line. The Super Bowl winning coach didn’t take Sin City’s head coaching position to start a rebuild of any sort–although that doesn’t necessarily mean both he and his general manager John Spytek won’t simultaneously be preparing for the future.
Needless to say, the offseason presents the best opportunity for a team to truly improve. By utilizing both free agency and the annual NFL Draft, it’s possible for a team fresh off of the second-to-worst season across the NFL to then make a Conference Championship Game appearance.
Just as the Washington Commanders were able to do this season.
However, before the Raiders can think about adding talent, they must first focus on retaining some of their own. After all, seven of the team’s 11 defensive starters are ready to hit the open market. That’s everyone who isn’t named Maxx Crosby, Christian Wilkins, Jakorian Bennett or Jack Jones.
While Las Vegas has plenty of players on expired deals who deserve to be brought back, these three Raiders in particular need to stick around for a while longer.
3 free agents who Pete Carroll and John Spytek need to keep in a Las Vegas Raiders uniform
Robert Spillane – the Silver and Black’s best linebacker in two decades
Of all the decisions the Raiders must make this offseason, this one is by far the easiest. Re-signing Robert Spillane should be Las Vegas’ top priority this offseason, who stands as the best off-ball linebacker the Silver and Black have had in two entire decades.
Not-so-coincidentally, Sin City’s defense has been the best it’s been in over two decades under Spillane’s leadership.
2023 welcomed the first time the Raiders ranked top-15 in both least yardage and least points allowed in a season since 2002. The team once again ranked top-15 in least yardage surrendered in 2024, achieving this feat in back-to-back seasons for the first time since ’98-’99.
Spillane in particular has been a major contributor towards those accomplishments.
In 2023, during his first season in Las Vegas, Spillane totaled 96 solo tackles; the 12th-most among all linebackers across the National Football League. That number skyrocketed to 110 in 2024, totaling the third-most solo tackles among all players at his position. Incredibly, Spillane missed only 6.0% of tackles this past season. No linebacker in the top-10 via solo take downs missed tackles at a lower clip.
Against the run, few league-wide have been as impactful as the 29-year-old. Spillane’s ’23 grade of 89.0 in this area via Pro Football Focus stood as the 6th-highest among all linebackers. This past season, Spillane once again posted the 6th-highest grade at his position against the run, earning a mark of 87.3.
Since joining the Silver and Black, the Western Michigan alum has accumulated 5.5 sacks and 5 interceptions.
K’Lavon Chaisson – investing in proven potential
Jon Gruden once said good edge rushers are hard to come by. Then, he traded away All-Pro edge rusher Khalil Mack. Although Chaisson isn’t on the same level of Defensive Player of the Year winner Khalil Mack, the 25-year-old showcased a number of reasons to be excited about what the future holds for him.
It seemed as if each week down the stretch of the Raiders’ ’24 campaign welcomed a notable performance from K’Lavon Chaisson. And that’s because, for the most part, that’s exactly what happened.
During the final six weeks of this past season, Chaisson amassed 4.0 sacks while notching an additional six hits on opposing quarterbacks. The former first-round draft pick added two pass breakups and a forced fumble to the stat sheet during this time period as well.
With an 80.3 pass-rush grade from Week 13 onward, only nine edge rushers league-wide bested Chaisson in this area.
By keeping Chaisson around, Pete Carroll and the Raiders are choosing to invest in a young player who, not only has a well-rounded game, but is finally hitting the potential scouts banked on when he was selected with the 20th-overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, The price tag shouldn’t be too high, either, although another notable season from Chaisson may cause it to deservingly skyrocket.
Tre’von Moehrig – keeping the secondary’s top player around for Pete Carroll
This last player could’ve been a number of different guys. Adam Butler, for example, has been a consistent producer on the defensive line since joining the Raiders. The same sentiment could be extended to Nate Hobbs and Marcus Epps, the latter who was a team captain in 2023.
Don’t forget about Malcolm Koonce, either.
Still, Moehrig is the guy who the Raiders need to keep around. His versatility and leadership in the secondary is simply unmatched.
This past season, the 25-year-old safety posted a grade of 87.5 against the run. This stood as the third-highest among all safeties who took the field for at least 1,000 snaps in 2024. Moehrig added two interceptions and a sack to ’24 campaign as well.
While certainly good against the run, coverage is Moehrig’s true specialty. In 2021, during his rookie season, no player in the Raiders secondary posted a better coverage grade than the TCU alum. Not only was his 77.7 coverage grade the best in the unit, but so was his unreal 33.1% pass breakup percentage. 2022 welcomed a 20% pass-breakup percentage while 2023 resulted in 17%. Both of those marks stood as high-teams as well among all players with at least 20 targets.
Moehrig’s consistent success is something no other player in the Raiders secondary has had anything particularly close to.
Keep it simple, and keep the most versatile and proven player in the secondary around for years to come. Being a mere 25 years of age makes Moehrig another piece to build around for the future, too.
*Top Photo: Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus
Sam Darnold Is Largely At Play For Pete Carroll, Las Vegas Raiders