nate hobbs
Getty
Former Las Vegas Raiders CB Nate Hobbs.
One of the key free agents the Las Vegas Raiders lost last season was cornerback Nate Hobbs. He signed a four-year contract with the Green Bay Packers, so it looked like that would be his long-term home.
However, he only lasted one season, as the team decided to cut him. He only played 11 games last season due to injury, and the Packers made the decision that he wasn’t worth the risk.
Luckily for Hobbs, he didn’t have to stay a free agent for long. According to NFL insider Jordan Schutlz, the veteran cornerback has signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers.
Hobbs has proven to be a good player when he’s healthy. He’s mostly been a slot cornerback, but has played on the outside. The 49ers have a new defensive coordinator in Raheem Morris, so Hobbs will have a chance to stand out early on.
The big knock on him is that he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. He has missed 22 games combined over the last four seasons. That said, this is a low-risk, high-reward move for the 49ers to make. It’s only a one-year deal, so they can move on from him easily, but if he can manage not to get hurt, he can be an impact player for the defense.
Raiders’ Revamped Defense
The Raiders’ defense is going to look like a completely different unit in 2026 than it did in 2025. The scheme will be different under new defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, but there are also some new starters coming in.
The Raiders spent big on the signings of defensive end Kwity Paye and linebackers Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean. All three of those guys are expected to be starters, and they should provide upgrades at their positions.
Walker Talks Teaming Up With Dean
Landing the Walker and Dean duo is going to be very interesting. The two are very close and played college football together at Georgia. The Raiders have been bad at linebacker for a long time, so spending some money to land a dynamic young duo could be what they needed.
Walker opened up about his relationship with Dean and how the two were able to form a bond.
“Me and Nakobe [Dean] were close during our time at UGA, and not only that, I spend a lot of time with him,” Walker said during his introductory press conference. “In the league, it’s kind of different, you have your own hotel room, but me and him actually shared a room together (in college), so it was just a whole lot that me and him did to bond. Whether that was straight after practice going to the room and watching film, or whatever the case may be, but the bond that we have it never really faded any type of way.
“Our relationship just continued to build and continued to stay strong throughout the four years of being in the league. Every offseason I got with him, including this offseason I’ll be with him again, so our relationship never really changed, honestly.”