Raiders make flurry of re-signings official, add former Broncos LS Jacob Bobenmoyer

Raiders add former Broncos LS Jacob Bobenmoyer, officially re-sign 5 others

It was a busy Saturday for the Raiders. Machine gun style, they rattled off several official re-signings by the team. They were as follows:

FB Jakob Johnson
T Jermaine Eluemunor
C Hroniss Grasu
DT Jerry Tillery
LB Curtis Bolton

In addition, the team announced the signing of long snapper Jacob Bobonmoyer, who appeared in 46 games the past three seasons in Denver.

Of particular interest among the returning players is tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. Though the journeyman veteran had been hinting at his return of late.

Prior to his proclamation that he and Kolton Miller would be “the best Tackle Duo’ in the league this season, he has simply been talking all along like he was going nowhere despite the team letting him reach free agency before making his return official.

The tackle position has been high on many team need lists for the Raiders this offseason, but Eluemunor has seemingly scoffed at the idea, pointing out that he settled in and played pretty well the latter half of last season.

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New Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers on signing big free agent deal ‘still that undrafted kid from Georgia’

‘still that undrafted kid from Georgia’: Jakobi Meyers’ mantra that keeps him humble.

It’s been quite an NFL journey for Jakobi Meyers. He went undrafted out of North Carolina State in 2019 and has had to fight to prove himself from day one.

Each season of his career, he’s seen his number go up in one way or another. And that consistent improvement led to his signing a three-year, $33 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.

What’s his secret? Remembering where he came from and letting it keep him humble.

“That’s something I won’t ever let myself forget,” Meyers said of going undrafted. “I remind myself every day. Just so I don’t get too big headed. At the end of the day, you’re still that undrafted kid from Georgia. Even saying that, there’s those moments where you’re like ‘well, you are that undrafted kid from Georgia.’ There’s some precious moments, you know. Precious moments with my family. My mom shedding tears, my brothers, everybody. I know they’re proud and happy I went through and stuck it out. I smile when I think about it. I’m grateful. Just thank God.”

Things didn’t just click for Meyers right away either. It wasn’t simply a matter of having all the talent and proving it to his coaches. It was about improvement.

One stat above all others showed that — touchdowns.

Meyers developed a bit of a reputation for having catches, but never being the one to cash it in for a score.

He went his first two seasons without scoring a touchdown. It wasn’t until week 10 of his third season — 164 NFL catches — that he finally broke through and had his first touchdown. An NFL record.

“It was just a trust thing. I had to earn trust day-by-day. It wasn’t an easy road. I had a lot of new quarterbacks, so there’s was a lot of miscommunication or I messed something and I wasn’t able to be where I needed to be, so I just felt like I needed to lock in an understand where I needed to be exactly when I needed to be there. Just making tough catches in tough situations. Because the red zone is hard. It’s hard to score down there.”

Meyers apparently figured it out, because his six touchdowns last season were more than he’d had in a season even in his best college season.

Combine that with his surpassing 800 yards each of the past two seasons and Josh McDaniels clearly sees Meyers hitting his prime. That and his familiarity in McDaniels’s offense was enough to bring him to Vegas.

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Former Raiders first round pick Clelin Ferrell to sign with 49ers

Clelin Ferrell to join 49ers on one-year deal

Clelin Ferrell’s time with the Raiders has officially come to an end. The former number four overall pick agreeing to terms with the San Francisco 49ers.

Ferrell was considered a major reach when the Raiders used their selection at number four overall in the 2019 draft on him. And even for a player who was deemed a mid-first round talent, he was immensely disappointing.

Ferrell’s 4.5 sacks as a rookie were the most he ever had in a Raiders uniform. After his third season, with just eight sacks to his name, the Raiders didn’t pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, leading to his being a free agent after four seasons with the team.

Now Ferrell will try to do what former Raiders draft pick Arden Key which is have more success moving from the Raiders to the 49ers. Key had just three sacks in three seasons with the Raiders and then put up 6.5 sacks in one season in San Francisco.

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Best available free agent fits for Raiders after day two

Best available free agent fits for Raiders after day two

We’re now through two days of the free agency negotiating period. Here is who has been added thus far:

QB Jimmy Garoppolo
S Marcus Epps
CB Brandon Facyson
WR Jakobi Meyers
WR Phillip Dorsett
LB Robert Spillane

Along with those additions, the team traded away tight end Darren Waller, thus adding one more need to the already long list of team needs. Especially with Foster Moreau also a free agent.

A few of those needs were addressed over the past couple days. Though perhaps not to the extent that they have solved the need and can dust their hands off until the draft.

There are still other needs to fill and more free agents out there to fill them. This is my list of best available free agent fits for the Raiders after day two.

1. TE Dalton Schultz
2. G Isaac Seumalo
3. T Kaleb McGary
4. G Dalton Risner
5. DI Sheldon Rankins
6. G Will Hernandez
7. WR DJ Chark
8. TE Mike Gesicki
9. T Cameron Fleming
10. DI Matt Ioannidis
11. DI Morgan Fox
12. DI A’Shawn Robinson
13. TE Hayden Hurst
14. DI Poona Ford
15. CB Shaquill Griffin
16. T Brandon Shell

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Former Raiders QB Jarrett Stidham to sign with Broncos

Jarrett Stidham has moved on, agreeing to terms on a 2-year deal with the Broncos

Just an hour after the start of free agency negotiating period, the first quarterback news drops. And it involves the Raiders. Though perhaps not the news you might have expected. And it’s not the Raiders adding a QB, but rather watching one go.

Jarrett Stidham — who started the final two games of last season for the Raiders — has signed on with the Broncos.

After Stidham looked pretty good in his first start in week 17 against the 49ers, many had hoped the Raiders might bring him back to compete at the position. Instead it’s the rival Broncos and new head coach Sean Payton who brings Stidham in to be his insurance plan behind Russell Wilson.

Meanwhile the Raiders are said to be in on the bidding war for former 49ers QB Jimmy Garappolo. They also hold the 7th overall pick in April’s draft and could add a QB at that spot as well.

Raiders free agent fits at linebacker

With Denzel Perryman headed for free agency, here are 5 free agent linebacker fits for Raiders

How much of a need linebacker was going to be for the Raiders next season was wholly dependent upon whether Denzel Perryman was re-signed. Well, recent reports say he and the Raiders were unable to come to a deal on his return, which means he is headed for the free agent market.

That means the Raiders either see an upgrade in free agency, or will look to the draft. The draft is far from a sure thing and with a great many other needs, and there may very not be an instant impact linebacker on the board from them.

Their best bet would be to try and lure a free agent in to step in at the position immediately. And there are a few decent options out there to choose from who could do just that.

With no deal from Raiders, Denzel Perryman to hit free agent market

Denzel Perryman to hit free agent market season after Pro Bowl nod

If you watched Denzel Perryman play for the Raiders the past couple seasons, you might’ve thought he would be a priority to re-sign. After all, he made the Pro Bowl in 2021 and even while missing five games last season, still finished third on the team in tackles.

But the Raiders seem to have other ideas. The eight-year pro will hit the open market next week after not agreeing to a deal to return according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Perryman was acquired by the Raiders in trade with the Panthers prior to the 2021 season and quickly became a pivotal part of the defense. He had signed a two-year deal with the Panthers and instead played it out in Las Vegas.

His exit leaves a gaping hole at middle linebacker, where they currently only have 2022 undrafted rookie Luke Masterson under contract. Which means should he sign elsewhere in free agency, the Raiders will likely have to seek out a replacement either among the outside free agents or in the draft.

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Raiders bring back G Netane Muti

Netane Muti re-signed by Raiders who nabbed him off Broncos practice squad late last season.

These days the Raiders can’t afford to be losing interior offensive linemen. They need all the competition and insurance they can get. In the interest of that, they have re-signed fourth-year guard Netane Muti.

Muti was signed late last season off the Broncos’ practice squad. The Raiders have suffered several injuries at guard and instead of starting John Simpson, they cut Simpson and signed Muti.

Though Muti didn’t see the field, it was clear the team has plans for the former sixth round pick that was more than just chilling on the bench for a month.

Muti appeared in 20 games with four starts over three seasons in Denver. The Raiders must have seen something from him they liked last season, because days after his only appearance, they nabbed him off the practice squad.

The 6-3, 315-pounder attended Fresno State for college and was drafted despite just five college games due to several season-ending injuries.

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Raiders re-sign RB Ameer Abdullah to 1-year deal

Raiders bringing back RB Ameer Abdullah on 1-year deal

It looks like the Raider are working through their upcoming free agent roster one position at a time. Starting with running back.

This week the team locked in Josh Jacobs with the franchise tag. And today they have brought back Ameer Abdullah on a one-year deal as first reported by Pro Football Chase and later confirmed by Aaron Wilson of KPRC Houston among others.

Abdullah’s return is a bit of a surprise considering he was not utilized quite as much last season as expected.

He caught 25 passes, but many of those were dumpoffs on third-and-long with little expectation he would convert it.

To Abdullah’s credit, he also returns kicks and averaged over 20 yards per return.

Most likely, it was a matter of being affordable. If his contract on a return is an easy one, it gets done quickly and keeps him off the market. It doesn’t guarantee he has a spot on the 2023 season roster. If all goes well, he will be have some strong competition for snaps.

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Raiders place franchise tag on RB Josh Jacobs

Raiders officially keeping Josh Jacobs off the market with the franchise tag

With the franchise tag deadline coming up Tuesday, the Raiders made the prudent move and have tagged Josh Jacobs.

The move comes as the Raiders have been attempting to sign Jacobs to a long term deal.

The 2023 tag for running backs carries a $10.9 million guaranteed salary.

With the tag number for running backs the lowest of any position on either offense or defense, it always seemed the most likely scenario that the Raiders would tag Jacobs.

This keeps Jacobs off the market. Now they have several options at their disposal.

First and foremost, it buys them more time to work on a long term deal. Something Jacobs would undoubtedly prefer to playing without guaranteed money after this season.

Should they not be able to come to terms on a long term deal, it would mean the two sides would get to see if Jacobs can repeat his success of this past season in which he led the NFL with 1653 rushing yards and over 2000 yards from scrimmage.

The other options would be to trade Jacobs. If they were to take that route, and did so prior to this year’s draft, it could yield picks this year.

Either way, we now know Jacobs will not be hitting the open market come next week when free agency opens.

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