It’s pretty clear that the Raiders are going to be aggressive in free agency for the second-straight season. In 2019, the Raiders were able to rebuild their offensive line in free agency, bringing in Trent Brown and Richie Incognito. This season, expect the Raiders to spend more on the defensive side of the ball, specifically in the secondary.
The free-agent cornerback is deep this offseason and could get even deeper if players like Xavier Rhodes or Quinton Dunbar are released. But the top cornerback set to hit the market is Byron Jones of the Dallas Cowboys.
In a recent article by Pro Football Focus, Anthony Treash projects that the Raiders will be Jones’ top suitor in free agency. With Rod Marinelli making the move from Dallas to Las Vegas, he could help recruit his former star cornerback. Take a look at why PFF believes Jones would make sense for the Raiders.
After bouncing around at various alignments in the secondary for three years, (Byron) Jones found his home at outside corner in 2018 and has since been one of the five best in the NFL. In that role, he’s been a shutdown corner in press-man coverage — he allowed just 0.39 yards per coverage snap on those reps in 2019, the second-lowest figure at the position and over eight-tenths of a yard lower than the average. Daryl Worley was dead last in that stat, in case you were wondering.
Pro Football Focus projects Jones to sign a deal worth around $16 million per season once free agency hits. The Raiders should be able to afford that as they are expected to have approximately $52 million in cap space this offseason, according to OverTheCap.com.
Adding a player of Jones’ caliber to the secondary would be incredibly beneficial to the entire unit. Jones is one of the most reliable cornerbacks in the league, despite not being a takeaway machine. At just the age of 27, Jones is starting to enter his prime and would be one of the best additions the team could make this offseason.
Keep a close eye on Jones in free agency as he shouldn’t be available for very long.
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