The Las Vegas Raiders announced that they signed Ken Crawley, Kendal Vickers and Tevin Coney to reserve/future contracts.
Futures contracts allow teams to sign players for the upcoming year but it does not count towards the just-completed season. The 2020 season does not officially start until March 18, so the Raiders will not have gone over any cap or roster limits for the 2019 season.
Crawley is a defensive back that played four seasons, spending time with the New Orleans Saints and more recently the Miami Dolphins. He played five total games this past year, putting up just six solo tackles. Crawley spent one game with the Saints this year before being cut and signing with the Dolphins and then was eventually cut again in Week 16.
Vickers spent three years at the University of Tennessee as a defensive lineman. He improved each year, going from 20 total tackles in his freshman year to 51 by his junior season.
Although he left college in 2017, he was not able to find his footing in the NFL. He spent last season with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League and finished with two sacks and a forced fumble.
The Raiders’ defensive line was one of the most improved aspects of the roster this past year. They allowed the eighth-fewest rushing yards in the league, compared to the eighth-most passing yards so hopefully they can be more balanced in 2020.
Coney spent last offseason with the Raiders after going undrafted out of Notre Dame. He also spent time on the team’s practice squad last year so the linebacker is familiar with the organization’s defensive scheme
