NFL free agency is essentially underway as March 15 marks the start of the league’s legal tampering period. Teams will now be free to legally negotiate with agents of unrestricted free agents.
The Las Vegas Raiders will be one of the most active teams during free agency as they have plenty of cap space to work with and several needs to address on both sides of the field. Defensively, they are expected to go hard after some of the defensive backs in the market, but they also have holes along their offensive line. The Raiders released starting guards Richie Incognito and Gabe Jackson, but fortunately for them, this free-agent class is loaded with talented guards.
Joe Thuney, Trai Turner, and Kevin Zeitler are the most coveted interior lineman in free agency, but former Chicago Bears guard Kyle Long recently announced his return to professional football and is expected to generate plenty of interest. However, he may not be available for long as he already has a meeting with the Raiders, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN:
Three-time Pro Bowl G Kyle Long, who is coming out of retirement, is scheduled to visit Monday with the Las Vegas Raiders, per source. Long is scheduled to visit KC next. Long’s father, Howie, had a Hall-of-Fame career for Raiders and another Long now in play for the franchise.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2021
Long was the 20th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft and made three consecutive Pro Bowls with the Bears. He spent his first two seasons in Chicago as their starting right guard before moving over to right tackle in the 2015 season.
The 32-year-old announced his retirement back in January of 2020 due to his injury history but should be fully healthy after a year off. Long is the kind of gamble the Raiders should take because if he can regain some semblance of his Pro Bowl form, then the front office can use the remainder of their cap space to address the rest of the roster.
