The legal tampering period of NFL free agency began on Monday and the Las Vegas Raiders were relatively quiet on the first day. New general manager John Spytek did reach an agreement to re-sign defensive end Malcolm Koonce but he let star defenders Robert Spillane, Tre'Von Moehrig and Nate Hobbs agree to contracts with other franchises.
Moehrig's departure was offset by the team reaching an agreement with safety Jeremy Chinn, but until Monday evening, the team had no solution to replace Spillane. Then, at nearly midnight in the Eastern time zone, Adam Schefter reported that the Raiders were signing Elandon Roberts, an inside linebacker from the Pittsburgh Steelers to a one-year, $3 million deal.
Roberts may not be in the same tier as a player like Spillane, but he could add more value based on what the team is paying him. For the Steelers in 2024, Roberts played just under half of the team's defensive snaps and totaled 46 tackles, including five for a loss, 1.0 sacks and a forced fumble.
While Roberts will not be the every-down linebacker that Spillane was, with more depth, that could be a net positive for the team. It hurt the Raiders' defense at times last season when Spillane was being frequently targeted by other teams due to his lack of pass coverage skills, but that will not be the case for Roberts if he is primarily playing on rushing downs.
The team will have to bring another linebacker in anyway due to the departure of Spillane and Divine Deablo but Roberts provides great value at his price point. One thing about defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is that he knows how to get the most out of his players; just look at the last time we signed a Steelers linebacker.
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This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 9:39 AM.