Getty New Las Vegas Raiders WR Demarcus Robinson.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ wide receiver corps received a major boost this offseason with the trade of Davante Adams, who will form an excellent duo with Hunter Renfrow. But it takes more than two wide receivers to fill out an offense, so the Raiders made another addition to their wide receiver room.
Las Vegas is signing Demarcus Robinson to a one-year contract, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted on March 22.
Former Chiefs’ WR Demarcus Robinson is signing a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, per @KatzBrosSports.
The Raiders are familiar with Robinson because of his six seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. The best game of his career — six catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns — actually came against the Raiders, in Week 2 of the 2019 season. He also had an 89-yard touchdown reception against the Raiders during a 2018 game. He’ll likely be the third or fourth wide receiver on the depth chart, but there will be opportunities to make big plays with Renfrow and Adams attracting so much attention.
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Robinson Brings the Raiders a Deep Threat
Robinson, 27, isn’t exactly a burner, considering that he ran a 4.59 40-yard dash before being selected by the Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. However, as a solid deep threat for the Chiefs, his game speed is much better. He had three touchdowns on seven deep targets in 2021, per Pro Football Focus.
Former Chiefs WR Demarcus Robinson has agreed to 1-year deal with #Raiders per his agent Michael Katz. Robinson had 3 TDs on 7 deep targets in 2021 regular season per PFF. Only 7 WRs had more TDs on deep passes and all of them had at least twice as many deep targets
Robinson is coming off a down year in 2021, where he had only 264 yards. In the previous two seasons, he surpassed 400 receiving yards in each. The Raiders don’t need him to put up big numbers to be a solid signing. If he can score a few big touchdowns as a deep threat for quarterback Derek Carr, his signing probably would be more than worth it. Terms of the contract have not been announced.
Are Raiders Done Adding WRs?
Some notable free agent wide receivers are still on the market, including Will Fuller, Julio Jones and A.J. Green. Each player is past his prime but each could help make an impact as the second or third wide receiver on a number of teams. The Raiders don’t appear to have an interest in bringing in any more big-name veterans. With the signing of Robinson, the team might be done adding veteran wide receivers barring an injury to a receiver on its roster. Las Vegas might look to the upcoming NFL draft for a young receiver.
Adams, Renfrow, Robinson, Bryan Edwards, Tyron Johnson, Mack Wilson and Dillon Stoner are the wide receivers on the Raiders roster right now. Robinson, Wilson, Johnson and Stoner could fight for a spot in training camp while Edwards, Renfrow and Adams have assured spots on the roster. The Raiders have had trouble putting together a respectable wide receiver corps in recent years. There have been a couple of times where it looked like they solved the issue but things didn’t work out. Now the team has the best wide receiver in the NFL in Adams and one of the best slot receivers in the NFL in Renfrow. It should be a very good group in 2022.
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