The Raiders have a few positions of need going into the summer and one of those positions is the cornerback group.
As of the first week of June, Darien Porter and Eric Stokes have reportedly been taking the majority of first-team reps during offseason activities, and Jakorian Bennett is the only other proven cornerback on the roster.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter has mentioned cornerback as a position the Raiders will probably try to improve between now and the start of the 2025 season, and there are now two veteran options that would make an immediate impact at the position.
Former Green Bay Packers CB Jaire Alexander
On Monday morning it was reported that Jaire Alexander was released by the Green Bay Packers.
According to OverTheCap, Alexander was going into the 2025 season with a $16.1 million base salary and a $24.6 million cap number.
Alexander, 28, was rated no. 25 out of 222 cornerbacks graded by Pro Football Focus. In coverage, he was the no. 16 ranked cornerback by Pro Football Focus.
Alexander will now enter free agency and should get a lot of interest from teams in need of a cornerback.
The Raiders have the cap room to offer a sizeable deal to Alexander, but will he be looking for a team with better odds at making a Super Bowl run in 2025?
Miami Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey
The other cornerback expected to find a new team in the weeks ahead is Miami Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey.
“Ramsey is on his way out of South Florida after just two seasons,” ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques reported on Monday. “General manager Chris Grier said in April that the team was actively looking to move Ramsey, but the financial ramifications were too great to trade him before June 1. Now that the calendar has turned, a trade might materialize soon.”
If the Raiders want Ramsey, they’ll have to agree to a trade with the Dolphins and NFL insider Adam Caplan thinks Vegas would be wise to avoid the 31-year-old cornerback.
“Would [Ramsey] help them? Absolutely. But where are the Raiders really going? Let’s be honest about it,” Caplan said on Raider Nation Radio’s Unnecessary Roughness with Q Myers.
“They got Geno Smith. They certainly have an established quarterback. [The] receiver corps needs a little help there. They have a lack of playmakers on defense,” Caplan continued. “They’re nowhere close enough on defense from a talent standpoint. Patrick Graham is a really good D coordinator, but they need way more talent. They’re just far away. Could they get six, seven, eight wins?”
“But I don’t really see the point of why you’re bringing in a 31-year-old cornerback at this point. What sense would that make?”
Ramsey has a contract in Miami that isn’t going to be particularly attractive to potential trade partners.
On his current deal, Ramsey’s cap hit in 2025 is $16.6 million, but that number balloons to more than $25 million in 2026 and 2027. In 2028, when Ramsey will be 34 years-old, OverTheCap has Ramsey’s cap number at a whopping $36.1 million.
x: @raidersbeat
So another bs story on a Raiderbeat Monday. No substance whatsoever. I need to find a site that’s legitimate. This is pure garbage, goodbye!