The secondary of the Las Vegas Raiders remains one of the team’s biggest questions heading into the 2023 season, and the success of that back line could be the key to the Raiders turning things around and making a playoff push. Recently there have been rumors about the team possibly signing former 2x All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters.
The Raiders met with Peters last month, but a move has yet to be made even though the match seems to be ideal. Peters is from Oakland and grew up watching the Raiders and has been one of the best playmakers in the NFL since stepping foot in the league. Meanwhile, the Raiders ranked dead last in the NFL in interceptions last season.
Now with training camp coming soon, the Raiders are expected to take a long, hard look at signing Peters according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
The Raiders wanted to get an up-close look at their rebuilt secondary during OTAs and minicamp, which includes a mixture of holdovers, free-agent additions and draft picks. And in Peters’ case, there was really no need or rush to sign that early in the NFL calendar.
Now that OTAs are over, the sense is the Raiders will take a long, hard look at whether to bring in Peters. That includes evaluating where he is at this point in his career. He’s now nearly two years removed from the knee injury he suffered that cost him the entire 2021 season.
Hard to classify this as a for-sure signing, but at the end of the day this feels like a logical fit. The educated guess is 60/40 the Raiders sign him.
As Bonsignore noted, the Raiders wanted to get a closer look at who they have during OTAs and minicamp, and for a veteran like Peters, missing out on those is no big deal. But a decision will need to be made soon if the Raiders feel they need to bring him in.
Peters is a big-play cornerback who is known to gamble which has led to him creating turnovers, but also giving up big plays. Regardless, in his seven-year career, Peters has totaled 32 interceptions with 6 being returned for touchdowns, along with 11 forced fumbles and 92 passes defensed.
Last year was Peters’ least successful in terms of counting stats, but he was also coming off a torn ACL that cost him the entire 2021 season. Now another year removed from that injury Peters could be more likely to resemble that playmaker of prior seasons, which is a player who could greatly help the Raiders.
