The Raiders were one of the NFL’s busiest teams in the offseason and with the additions of Klint Kubiak, Fernando Mendoza and Tyler Linderbaum, the fan base has a lot to be excited about on offense going forward.
No offensive line in the league was worse than the Raiders in 2025 and there could be as many as three new starters along their offensive line in 2026.
Kubiak and his staff figure to be a coaching upgrade on the sideline, and Mendoza was arguably one of the best quarterback prospects to enter the draft since Andrew Luck.
But there’s another position group the Raiders revamped in the offseason and that group was ranked as the no. 2 positional “net gain” of every roster in the league. According to ESPN’s Ben Solak, the Raiders linebacker room benefitted from the second most dynamic overhaul in the league…
“It’s a total overhaul in Las Vegas, as not one of the four linebackers to get over 200 snaps last season returns to play for the Raiders. (Germaine Pratt, the fourth, was cut during the season.) Not only are all four no longer Raiders. None of the four has signed with another team so far.
White, who had a Raiders-record 174 tackles last season, still has some utility as a run-stopping linebacker with the size and speed to see the field in sub packages. Similarly, Roberts is a physical run defender who deserves a roster spot somewhere. But neither should have been an every-down starter last year — especially beside one another, given the redundant skill sets. There was a lot wrong with the Raiders franchise last season, but even with a good coaching staff and healthy secondary, this linebackers room was a nonstarter.
GM John Spytek overhauled the group with a pair of old teammates: Walker and Dean played beside one another as Georgia Bulldogs in 2020 and 2021 before parting ways in the 2022 draft. Dean and Walker are a complementary duo. Dean might be undersized, but he has many traits of a prototypical signal-calling Mike linebacker: great recognition and instincts, plus physical tackling skills.
With Dean calling the plays, Walker will be freed to play more run-and-chase roles, which suits his size and speed strengths. Walker’s experience wearing the green dot in Green Bay insures the Raiders against a potential long-term Dean injury, as availability has been an issue at times for Dean. He missed time with a foot injury in 2023 and a knee injury (suffered in the 2024 playoffs) in 2025.
The Raiders anticipate moving to a 3-4 front structure under new defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, and reading between the lines of their offseason moves, I expect them to play with extra DBs on the field as much as possible. Second-round rookie safety Treydan Stukes and incumbent safety Jeremy Chinn are both great box players, and it’s unlikely the LB3 on this roster gets many snaps. Leonard is a Mike Macdonald-inspired coach, and those defenses have needed a dynamic playmaker at linebacker (Roquan Smith, Ernest Jones IV) to fit the run from light boxes. In Dean and Walker, the Raiders have two solid options.”
For what it’s worth, Dean and Walker were two of the most sought-after linebackers in free agency and according to multiple reports, the Cowboys battled the Raiders for both.
NFL Network’s Jane Slater said in March that Dean’s decision came down to the Raiders and Cowboys, but the former Eagles linebacker went with his “gut feeling” and chose to wear Silver & Black.
Dean ended up getting a three-year, $36 million deal with the Raiders, but was reportedly not as high on the Cowboys’ list as Walker.
Walker was reportedly a high priority for the Cowboys, but the former Green Bay Packer went with the Raiders on a three-year, $40.5 million deal.
Stealing players from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is a good story, but the deeper details might be even better.
According to Raider Nation Radio host ‘JT the Brick’, there was at least one team the Raiders swooped in against and made a deal while the opposing GM wasn’t answering his phone.
“I have been told that… when Spytek was making deals, other GMs were not aware that the Raiders were on the phone making late afternoon deals, where the other GMs were sleeping on the job, and one of these players, they wanted the exact players that the Raiders got,” JT said on his flagship radio show last week.
“Spytek was humming at the Raider facility while others were not available or weren’t or didn’t feel a sense of urgency. They didn’t believe the Raiders after the Maxx Crosby trade, the Linderbaum move, [were] going out and getting [Jalen] Nailor, they didn’t see the Raiders coming to pounce on the defensive side of the ball.”
“According to someone who’s very connected,” JT continued, “Spytek pounced on the phones and closed those deals as other GMs. I don’t know if they were in the bathroom, I don’t know if they were on the phone with their wife, I don’t know if they were picking up their kids at school, but Spytek sensed that he could get in on this and he got the players and he closed down day one. It was incredible.”
x: @raidersbeat