The defense wasn’t what held the Las Vegas Raiders back last season, but there is a distinct lack of high-end talent in the group, especially at linebacker. Devin White, Elandon Roberts and Jamal Adams took the majority of linebacker snaps last season, but all three of them are free agents.
Since the Raiders are running a new defensive system under Rob Leonard, it’s hard to imagine the team will bring back those linebackers. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler recently reported that the Raiders were interested in trading for Chicago Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.
Fortunately for them, they won’t actually have to. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bears have decided to release Edmunds outright ahead of free agency. Chicago made this move to save $15 million in salary cap space, but that doesn’t mean Edmunds can’t still play.
He’s a two-time Pro Bowler who has had over 100 combined tackles in every season of his career. Plus, he’s still relatively young at 27, so he could be a productive player for at least a few more seasons. What’s appealing about Edmunds is that he can make plays in coverage. He has 14 career interceptions, including four last season.
Edmunds Now Among Top Free Agents
Edmunds is now one of the top players who is about to be available in free agency. ESPN’s Matt Bowen ranked him as the 13th-best free agent and the second-best linebacker.
“The Bears plan to release Edmunds at the start of the league year,” Bowen wrote. “A long and rangy linebacker at 6-foot-4, 251 pounds, Edmunds should gain interest due to his ability to generate on-ball production in coverage. Edmunds, who averaged 8.6 tackles per game in 2025, had nine interceptions and 12 pass breakups over his three seasons in Chicago.”
Green Bay Packers free agent linebacker Quay Walker is the main linebacker he’s competing against in free agency. Edmunds could be headed toward a big payday this offseason.
Should Raiders Sign Edmunds?
The linebacker need for the Raiders is serious. They’re also switching to a 3-4 base defense, which only makes the need at linebacker bigger.
Roberts might be the one free agent they could want to bring back, but he’s more of a run stuffer. Edmunds makes a ton of sense for the Raiders.
They have a ton of salary cap space to play with, so they can afford to pay the linebacker a premium. This season does feel like it’ll be more about building up the offense under head coach Klint Kubiak, but they can’t leave defensive coordinator Rob Leonard with nothing.
If star defensive end Maxx Crosby gets traded, the Raiders will have even more salary cap space to work with. That would allow the Raiders to spend big on a player like Edmunds while also still having plenty of money to buy other players.
There are many needs on defense, but linebacker might be the biggest. It has been a position group the Raiders have struggled to solve for years, and perhaps Edmunds would be the latest free agent signing to flame out, but that doesn’t mean the team can stop trying to fix the position.
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