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The Las Vegas Raiders headed into the offseason with major needs on the defensive line. They’ve done a lot of work to fix that issue. The team has already signed several defensive linemen. Just when it looked like they might be done addressing the position, the Raiders announced the signing of another player.
The team is bringing in former Charger Darius Philon.
Surprisingly, new Raiders defensive coordinator Gus Bradley has yet to bring a lot of former Chargers to the team. Philon will be one of the first guys to come over that was coached by Bradley. He played under the coach for two seasons in Los Angeles and started in 17 games. In his two seasons under Bradley, Philon had 8.5 sacks. He does have some skill as an intrior pass rusher and could have a shot at making the roster. However, there should be some concerns surrounding Philon.
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Philon Hasn’t Played in 2 Years
The big elephant in the room is that Philon hasn’t played in two full seasons. His last game was in 2018. The reason he hasn’t played is that he was arrested in 2019 on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges in a strip club incident. Prior to that incident, he signed a two-year deal worth $10 million with the Arizona Cardinals. He was cut due to the incident and no team has given him another shot.
Due to the fact that he hasn’t been signed to any team, the NFL actually hasn’t decided on a penalty for Philon. Per Jerry McDonald, the case against the defensive tackle has been dismissed.
McDonald also noted that the league is reviewing Philon’s case and believes he could see a similar punishment that Richie Incognito got prior to the start of the 2019 season.
It’s hard to imagine the NFL hitting him with a stiff penalty but it’s possible he loses around two games to suspension next season. If he can return to the form that saw him start 13 games for Bradley in 2018, he could be a sneaky good pickup for the Raiders.
Have Raiders Done Enough to Improve DL?
The Raiders’ free-agent haul of defensive linemen has been a lot more quantity than quality. That’s not to say the team hasn’t found good players. Yannick Ngakoue is a stud, Quinton Jefferson has talent and Solomon Thomas was a top-five draft pick not that long ago. However, it still remains to be seen if the team has improved their defensive line enough.
Ngakoue is the only guy they’ve added who is a clear difference-maker. There’s no guarantee that any of the defensive tackles the team has signed will be much better than Maliek Collins, who left for the Houston Texans. The Raiders already do have some young talent on the roster. Perhaps they expect big things from Clelin Ferrell, Maxx Crosby and Maurice Hurst. If those three continue to show improvement, then the need to find defensive linemen in free agency is lessened.
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