Going into this offseason, one of the Las Vegas Raiders’ biggest needs was the cornerback position after trading Gareon Conley and letting Daryl Worley walk in free agency.
The team found one starting corner in Trayvon Mullen after the rookie emerged in the second half of the 2019 season.
Las Vegas also pegged its second corner of the future by taking Damon Arnette out of Ohio State 19th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. With two young guys pegged to start though, it makes sense for the Raiders to bring in a veteran for depth purposes.
They appeared to have found that in Eli Apple, although his deal with the team fell through due to issues with his physical. Now over a month later, they have finally found that veteran by agreeing to terms with Prince Amukamara, via Mike Garafolo of NFL Network:
Still some work that needs to be done to iron out the final details but Amukamara and the #Raiders have agreed on overall terms. He’ll be in Silver and Black.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) May 12, 2020
Amukamara brings the Raiders young secondary some much-needed experience as the nine-year veteran has started 99 games in his career, including 15 each of the last two seasons with the Chicago Bears.
The 30-year-old was originally drafted by the New York Giants in the first round in 2011 out of Nebraska. He played his first five seasons with the Giants before playing one with the Jacksonville Jaguars and three in Chicago.
He had 55 total tackles, 10 passes defensed and a forced fumble in 2019, proving he can still play at a high level. Between him, Mullen, Arnette and Nevin Lawson, the Raiders now have some solid depth at the cornerback position going into 2020.
It should be an interesting battle between Arnette and Amukamara for the second starting spot, although they both likely will see a ton of playing time throughout the course of the year.
