Even with Germaine Pratt’s addition, Raiders linebackers still patchwork unit

Veteran adds much-needed depth and experience but Las Vegas long-term planning at position group needs focus

Sometimes, football fate meets football reality.

Such is the case for Germaine Pratt and the Las Vegas Raiders.

When the veteran linebacker found himself cast aside by the Cincinnati Bengals — the team that drafted him in the third round (72nd overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft — the proclamations the Silver & Black sign a much-needed defender to bolster a position of need arrived faster and with more determination than Bo Jackson when he took the handoff against the Seattle Seahawks back in 1987.

Raider Nation and reporters alike quickly connected the dots on a Pratt-Raiders union. And just two days after the Bengals released their former team captain and stalwart linebacker, Pratt and Las Vegas agreed to a one-year contract worth up to $4.25 million.

As our Matt Holder delved into mid-June, the 29-year-old adds another quality run defender to the Raiders linebacker corps. Pratt is an instinctual linebacker who can diagnose quickly, use his strength to blast blockers backwards, and is patient to not get lost in the flow of traffic. His 143 total tackles and five stops for loss in 2024 along with his total sum of 118 tackles and seven stops behind the line of scrimmage in 2023 are a testament to Pratt’s skillset.

But even with the addition of the 6-foot-3 and 250-pound North Carolina State product (the same school that produced current Raiders wider receiver Jakobi Meyers and punter AJ Cole III), Las Vegas linebacker room remains a patchwork unit.

And the long-term outlook on the position group is equally as hodgepodge.

Veteran Affairs

The group of Pratt, Elandon Roberts (31 years old), Devin White (27), and Jaylon Smith (30) are the old heads of the Raiders linebacker room.

Roberts, the elder statesman, heads into year 10 in the NFL after arriving to the scene as a sixth-round pick in the 2014 draft by the New England Patriots. Smith, the second oldest, heads into his seventh season and is a reclamation project as he came into league as the Dallas Cowboys’ second-round pick in the 2016 draft.

White, the youngest of the veteran group heads into year seven and is another reclamation project as he was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ fifth-overall pick in the 2019 draft.

Each of those aforementioned names are on one-year deals and have plenty to prove to themselves, the Raiders, and the rest of the NFL. Pratt and Roberts represent the most defensive snaps and production out of the veteran group with the former logging 1,078 snaps in 17 games (17 starts) with the Bengals in 2024 with the latter earning 478 snaps in 17 games (14 starts).

In comparison, White played only 176 defensive snaps in 2024 while Smith didn’t play this past season. So it’s clear-cut competition for the vets and younger linebackers on the roster with one glaring item still to be seen: Just how many linebackers will the Raiders deploy on defense?

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham used a 4-2-5 base alignment for much of his tenure calling the plays and that’ll leave two “starting” spots if that remains to be the case in 2025 and beyond.

The Young Ones

Of the 10 total linebackers on the Raiders 90-man roster, 6 are 25 years old and under.

Amari Gainer, an undrafted free agent, is a popular youngster amongst Raider Nation as he’s got the size (6-foot-3 and 236 pounds) that seems to fit the bill. He’s the oldest of the younger crop and was a special teamer as a rookie last year. Tommy Eichenberg, who Las Vegas picked in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, also has good size at 6-foot-2 and 233 pounds. The 24-year-old spent his rookie season as a special teams mainstay.

Cody Lindenberg is the Raiders latest rookie (seventh-round pick in the 2025 draft) linebacker coming from Minnesota. He, too, has good size at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds and has even worn the green dot on second team defense in Las Vegas’ mandatory minicamp this past month.

That group is joined by Michael Barrett (second year, undrafted, 25 years old, Michigan) and two new undrafted rookies in: Matt Jones (24, Baylor) and Jailin Walker (22, Indiana).

Long-Term Projection

Pratt, Roberts, White and the rest of the linebackers on one-year pacts can rise to the occasion and earn a nifty pay day next offseason. Said players could also re-up with the Raiders on a contract extension.

But the prove-it-type deals are indicative of the roster building general manager John Spytek and general manager Pete Carroll are engaging in. Let’s see what we got and determine needs as the season progresses and next offseason (free agency and draft).

There’s also a chance the younger linebackers like Gainer, Lindenberg, or Walker step up to stake their claim as roster-worthy types that either contribute on defense or provide ample snaps on special teams that older veterans tend to steer away from.

But that’s a ton of could and should above, however.

And, overall, pass coverage remains a concern amongst the entire group of linebackers.

Let’s see if the Raiders can shore that up as the offseason progresses.

Extra Points: Going back to the 2000 draft, the Silver & Black here’s the list of linebackers selected. Take note that the team tends to use middle to late round picks on the position group over this particular course of time:

• Napoleon Harris, 23rd overall, 2002
• Cody Spencer, 182nd overall, 2004
• Kirk Morrison, 78th overall, 2005
• Thomas Howard, 38th overall, 2006
• Darnell Bing, 101th overall, 2006
• Travis Goethel, 190th overall, 2010
• Miles Burris, 129th overall, 2012
• Nathan Stupar, 230th overall, 2012
• Sio Moore, 66th overall, 2013
• Khalil Mack, 5th overall, 2014* (edge rusher)
• Ben Heeney, 140th overall, 2015
• Neiron Ball, 161th overall, 2015
• Max Valles, 179th overall, 2015* (edge rusher)
• Cory James, 194th overall, 2016
• Marquel Lee, 168th overall, 2017
• Azeem Victor, 216th overall, 2018
• Amari Burney, 203rd overall, 2023
• Tommy Eichenberg, 148th overall, 2024
• Cody Lindenberg, 222nd overall, 2025