Getty Cleveland Browns DB John Johnson.
The Las Vegas Raiders have needs all over the roster, especially on defense. The team could possibly use at least six new starters on defense and possibly more. Arguably the biggest needs are in the secondary.
Cornerbacks Rock Ya-Sin and Anthony Averett are free agents, as well as safety Duron Harmon. Former second-round pick Trevon Moehrig took a big step back in his second season and could be a cut candidate. The Raiders need to upgrade at both safety positions. Luckily, teams can find good safeties in free agency without paying a premium.
Just a couple of years ago in 2021, safety John Johnson was one of the most sought-after defensive players in free agency. He signed a three-year deal with the Cleveland Browns worth $33 million. That deal didn’t work out and the Browns are moving on from Johnson and he’ll head to free agency soon. Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Reivew-Journal believes the Raiders could take a look at the veteran safety in free agency.
Johnson is just 27 years old and should have plenty left in the tank. Considering he’s getting cut by the Browns, he’ll almost certainly have a lower asking price than he did when he first signed with the team.
Is Johnson a Good Fit With Raiders?
Johnson has never been named to a Pro Bowl or an All-Pro team so he’s not one of the elite safeties in the NFL. That said, he’s still a solid defender. During his Rams years, Pro Football Focus consistently had him ranked among the best safeties in the league. Last year with the Browns, he wasn’t ranked nearly as high.
PFF had him as the 57th-best safety in the NFL for 2022. That was higher than Moehrig (79) but lower than Harmon (22). His decline with Cleveland is a bit concerning but perhaps he just wasn’t a great fit in their defense. Johnson’s asking price shouldn’t be high so it could be worth it for the Raiders to bring him in.
McDaniels Addresses What He Wants on Defense
The biggest problem for the Raiders’ defense is that they lack playmakers. The team was last in the NFL in takeaways and had the third-fewest sacks. Head coach Josh McDaniels had a chance to discuss the types of players he wants to add on defense.
“That’s — honest to God, it’s — we’re going to try to improve the competition at every position on defense,” McDaniels said during a press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine. “We don’t — our depth, obviously, is something that we need to improve across the board. But, look, we need tough, smart, explosive players, period. And we need to do that on offense, we need to do it on defense, we need to do it in the return game. We have some good core components to our roster that we can build around. But we need to get tougher, smarter, more explosive, you know, with the people that are coming to our football team.
“And so, there’s not one spot that I would say, you know, is more — that we’re going to stress this more than that. We need to get good football players every opportunity that we can and we’re going to take every avenue to do that.”