The Las Vegas Raiders announced on Monday that they have released linebacker Tahir Whitehead. The move does not come as much of a surprise and allows the team to clear up around $6 million in cap space, bringing their total up to around $57 million that they can use in free agency this offseason.
Whitehead originally was a fifth-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions in 2012 out of Temple. He spent the first five seasons of his career in Detroit before signing with the Raiders in 2018.
In his two seasons in Oakland, Whitehead started all 32 games, recording 234 total tackles with six passes defensed, one interception and one forced fumble.
He had a subpar season in 2019, finishing with 108 total tackles and a pass defense. He took over as the Raiders’ defensive signal-caller after Vontaze Burfict was suspended for the year but eventually lost out of playing time to Will Compton in the last few games of the season.
It’s no secret that the Raiders have issues at the linebacker position, and the release of Whitehead only makes that more evident. The good news is that they have plenty of cap space and draft capital to address it this offseason though, and that will likely be at the top of their priority list in the coming months.
One solution could be bringing back Burfict, while another could be signing Cory Littleton, who is the best linebacker on the free-agent market. The Raiders already being linked to both shows how serious they are about improving the middle of their defense in 2020.
