The Las Vegas Raiders offseason is underway and already there have been a number of changes. The Raiders have brought in a handful of new faces and, unfortunately, have had to say goodbye to some as well.
One player that the Raiders expect to leave is safety Karl Joseph as he is reportedly signing with the Cleveland Browns on a one-year deal. Luckily, the Raiders are a fairly young team and will retain the rights to a number of key players.
According to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, the Raiders have tendered Nicholas Morrow, Nathan Peterman and David Sharpe:
Also, the Raiders officially placed tenders on three restricted free agents — linebacker Nicholas Morrow, quarterback Nathan Peterman and tackle David Sharpe. Morrow was not drafted, but the club gave him a second-round tender (what a team must give up to sign him), so he will definitely be back in a reserve role.
Morrow is perhaps the biggest name of those three subtle transactions. Morrow was undrafted after college but signed with the Raiders in the 2017 offseason. Since then, he has appeared in all 48 games and even started in eight games during the 2019 season.
With those eight starts, he had his best season to date, recording 73 total tackles, one interception and four pass deflections. Hopefully with Cory Littleton joining Morrow at linebacker, the two can wreak havoc on defense.
Sharpe has made some notable contributions to the team in the last few years. Originally drafted in the fourth round in 2017, the offensive lineman has split time with the Raiders and the Houston Texans. Last year he saw some increased action, playing in nine games and starting in two of them. Starting right tackle Trent Brown missed a number of games last season, leaving the door open for some less experienced lineman like Sharpe to see increased playing time.
Lastly, Peterman caught the attention of head coach Jon Gruden early on in his career. Although he acknowledged Peterman’s troubled past with the Buffalo Bills, where he threw 12 interceptions across eight games, Gruden still liked his potential. Despite that, Peterman did not see any time last season due to a shoulder injury and with Marcus Mariota coming in to be Derek Carr‘s primary backup, the story will likely remain the same.
Considering other teams would now have to sacrifice draft capital to sign any of these three players, it is likely that all three with be in Las Vegas for the 2020 season.
