Quay Walker
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GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 24: Quay Walker #7 of the Green Bay Packers takes a moment prior to a game against the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field on September 24, 2023 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
The Las Vegas Raiders are set to be huge spenders during free agency as the team currently ranks second in the NFL with $89.1 million in available cap space, according to OvertheCap.com.
Aside from more obvious needs like offensive line, one position that will command a lot of attention is linebacker. All three starting LBs (Elandon Roberts, Jamal Adams, and Devin White) are set to be free agents this offseason.
The Raiders will be moving from a 4-3 (four defensive linemen, three linebackers) to a 3-4 scheme (three defensive linemen, four linebackers) under newly promoted defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, which is going to put a bigger emphasis on linebacker play.
Las Vegas must solidify that group through both free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft, and according to ESPN’s Aaron Schatz, he’s projecting the Raiders to sign Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker during free agency.
Raiders Projected to Sign Packers Linebacker Quay Walker
Schatz gave his thoughts on why the Raiders could sign Walker:
“The Raiders could use playmakers all across their defense, and both of last season’s starting linebackers are free agents. Walker had 128 combined tackles with the Packers last season and has sideline-to-sideline speed to track down running backs. He can be used as a blitzer as well. The Raiders would just need to make sure their other linebacker is strong in coverage, as that’s a weakness for Walker.”
At 6’4″ and 240 pounds, Walker still has a lot of potential as he’ll be 26 by the time next season rolls around. In 2025, Walker had an 18.2% pressure rate and is known as an explosive tackle machine who can make plays in the opposing backfield.
The Raiders have money to spend, but the good news is Walker isn’t expected to command a hefty contract, as The Athletic’s Daniel Popper is projecting him to sign a two-year, $17 million deal during free agency.
General Manager John Spytek’s Comments on Free Agency
During Klint Kubiak’s introductory press conference, Raiders general manager John Spytek laid out his thoughts on how he plans to attack free agency this offseason.
“I would say intelligently aggressive. Have a good plan and not get carried away. There’s a lot of emotions that creep into those markets, and you budget $15 (million) for a guy, and then what’s another one, two, not it’s $20 (million). And then you do that a couple more times, and you just go, well, there go a couple more players. We’re going to sit and figure out what this team needs in order to take the next step from a player standpoint, and what makes sense in Klint’s vision and my vision, and pair those two up. We’re going to attack it full-on. We’re sitting in a position of strength in the market, but we want to be smart with that, too. I don’t want to wake up in ’27 or ’28 and kind of regret some of the deals that we did, knowing that emotion got too involved in that.”
Being methodical in how Spytek wants to attack free agency could set the Raiders up for success in the long-run. One piece of that puzzle could very likely be signing Walker on a value deal at around $8.5 million per year.