The Las Vegas Raiders lost two starting linebackers in Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo in free agency.
To bring a veteran voice back to the linebacker room, and much-needed experience, the Silver and Black signed Pittsburgh Steelers veteran Elandon Roberts. Roberts' physical play-style and intangibles aside, Pro Football Focus' Ben Cooper believes that the signing has sneaky upside.
Especially considering what the Raiders are forking over to Roberts -- one year for just $3.01 million.
"Out goes Robert Spillane, and in comes Elandon Roberts," wrote Cooper. "he Raiders swapped out a now-$11 million-per-year player for a $3.01 million linebacker and arguably won’t see much of a drop-off in talent. Before joining the Raiders, Spillane never earned a 60.0-plus PFF overall grade in four seasons with the Steelers. He topped that figure in both of his years in Las Vegas. oberts, who also comes from Pittsburgh, was the NFL’s third-highest-graded linebacker in run defense last season (91.0) but dealt with some coverage woes (49.6) — similar to what the Raiders got out of Spillane."
Steelers On SI's Noah Strackbein told Raiders On SI just what Las Vegas will be getting in the linebacker. They have a player that will fit into Patrick Graham's system Day 1 and set the tone
"He's a guy who has come such a long way and has always been the same player. Consistent, reliable, and that is who you want as an inside linebacker," said Strackbein. "Two years ago, the Steelers lost everybody. They had two starting linebackers go down, they were picking up guys off the street in the middle of the season to come in here and start. E-Rob was the only guy who was healthy all year long and even when he wasn't, he was their reliable starter. And he did things that, like he played better at times than I've seen anybody play at inside linebacker -- and the Steelers have had names like Ryan Shazier, you know, and Devin Bush when he was good before the ACL injury, and Vince Williams.
"Elandon Roberts, he is a star. He is a starter-quality player, and he can do anything you ask him to do."
