The linebacker position was such a huge need for the Raiders heading into free agency, they made it their top priority not just to sign one, but to sign a couple of them.
The first day of free agency, the Raiders made former Rams playmaker Cory Littleton their biggest splash addition and on the same day, they agreed to terms with former Bears linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski.
Both players were inside linebackers for their respective teams, so the question was which of them would play in the middle for the Raiders. In other words, which guy would wear the green dot helmet and call out the plays and which would be playing on the outside.
“You talk about the linebacker, Cory Littleton covers as well as anybody in the league,” said GM Mike Mayock on a conference call Tuesday. “We feel like [Nick] Kwiatkoski will wear the green dot and fit in seamlessly with what we do.”
Littleton has considerably more starting experience than Kwiatkoski. But Littleton is also a far more accomplished coverage linebacker. This seems to be a situation of playing to Littleton’s strengths more than anything.
Should these roles stick, the Raiders would be looking at perhaps adding another outside linebacker in the draft.
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