Last month, Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie said he wanted to pursue “real” players in free agency.
On Wednesday morning, on the second day of free agency, McKenzie secured two players who should help the interior toughness of his defense. The Raiders agreed to terms with Arizona defensive tackle Dan Williams and middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, who was recently cut by New Orleans.
Both players are expected to be starters. Both additions should help the Raiders’ interior front seven against the run. Williams, a former first-round pick, is an above-average run stuffer and was a big part of the Cardinals’ run defense, which was elite. The Raiders turned to Williams after talks with Denver’s Terrance Knighton broke down. Williams is not quite the player Knighton is, but he will improve Oakland at the position.
Williams and Justin Ellis, who played well as a fourth-round pick last season, should combine to be a solid pair at defensive tackle.
Lofton, 28, is a tackling machine. He had 144 tackles last season and has had at least 123 tackles in each of the past four seasons. The knock on Lofton is he is not great in coverage, but he is a good, solid signal-caller for a defense. The Raiders were looking for a new middle linebacker after cutting Nick Roach because of health concerns. In 2014, Miles Burris played for Roach, who was out all last season with a concussion, and struggled.
Lofton is an upgrade. These additions will not make Oakland elite on defense, but they are improvements to the starting lineup, and that’s vital.
The Lofton addition means Malcolm Smith, who the Raiders added from Seattle on Tuesday, will either compete with Sio Moore at weakside linebacker or back him up. Moore is recovering from hip surgery and the team hopes he is ready by training camp. Smith was known as a solid rotational player and core special-teamer in Seattle, where he played for new Oakland defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr.
