A majority of the Oakland Raiders' free agents rest in their secondary. Filled with plenty of defensive veterans, Reggie McKenzie and company have some decisions that need to be made regarding marquee names on the roster. With one of the worst secondary units in the league, the team has started rebuilding with a new coaching staff, but which players will stay and which will leave come March?
The Raiders' secondary ranked 28th in the league in 2013, allowing 255.8 passing yards per game. It is the second-straight year they fell into the bottom portion in defensive statistics. With upwards of $60 million to spend in free agency, McKenzie intends to focus on the defense and re-filling the struggling secondary.
For now, it appears Charles Woodson will likely earn a contract extension. The veteran is set to become a free agent after signing a one-year deal late last offseason. Another year of testing the market will not do Woodson any favors considering he is on the wrong end of the NFL age scale. However, McKenzie appears sold on the veteran leadership he can provide and ESPN reports the cornerback will likely remain, but on another limited salary.
"I thought he was very solid and could contribute and I told him so," McKenzie said. "And I told him I would like to talk about getting him back here."
While Woodson is getting the vote of confidence from the general manager, Tracy Porter and Michael Jenkins are not getting too much of a second glance. Both cornerbacks are unrestricted free agents this offseason. They offered up very little last season and Oakland is not looking to break the bank on veterans. Keeping Woodson is one thing, bringing back Porter and Jenkins will be too much. One player might return, but the Raiders cannot keep both.
McKenize wants to continue building a strong defense and hates to start from scratch so creating a unit with more veterans than youth certainly will not help. Players like Asante Samuel or Dunta Robinson are not likely to be options and get the same treatment as Woodson. The Raiders should be expected to target one young free agent and also draft some rookies instead of loading up on aging players.
"I don't think we'll have 10 new guys (again)," McKenzie said, via ESPN.com. "Hopefully there will be a few of the guys coming back and whether it's that same role or whatever, at least we'll have some guys to choose from if we can get them back. If not, we're going to upgrade. But the continuity part of it on defense, that's tough ... you still want to get better and if we can, if whatever that number is, six, seven, eight, it's still going to be some changes. But continuity helps, but great players and really good players will help more."