The offseason could bring a slew of changes to the Las Vegas Raiders' roster with new general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll making the decisions. Fans should keep an eye on what the new regime decides to do at the edge rusher position, as both Malcolm Koonce and K'Lavon Chaisson will test the free agent market.
Carroll did choose to retain defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and defensive line coach Rob Leonard this offseason, which helps their chances of re-signing key players on that side of the ball. With such uncertainty looming, however, Spytek chose to tender exclusive rights free agent Charles Snowden on Friday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
An exclusive rights free agent refers to a player who has accrued two or fewer NFL seasons and has seen their contract expire. However, if the team does not want them to sign with another franchise, they can give them a qualifying offer and they will only be allowed to re-sign with the team that extended the offer to them.
Charles Snowden has been in the NFL for four years but has only played six or more games one time, meaning he has accrued only one season. In that one season for the Raiders in 2024, he played in 16 games, starting nine, and had 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, 39 tackles and four passes defended.
While he may not be a game-changing edge rusher at this point in his career, he has shown enough promise to be considered a good insurance policy if the team swings and misses on both Koonce and Chaisson in free agency. Las Vegas will still have Crosby and Tyree Wilson, but depth may have become an issue if the team did not tender Snowden on Friday.
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This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 1:48 PM.