Raiders to sign veteran OL

Caplan notes that the agreement has a base value of $2.5M, and it can reach a maximum of $3M. Whitehair will collect $1.4M guaranteed in his first season spent outside of Chicago.

The 31-year-old has been a mainstay along the Bears offensive line since his arrival in the NFL in 2016. Whitehair has started 118 of his 124 appearances, so he will offer plenty of experience to the Raiders as an interior contributor. 

The former second-rounder spent much of his first three years at center, and in 2018 he earned his first and only Pro Bowl nod. Since then, he has seen considerable time at left guard.

Whitehair (who drew interest from the Seahawks before their Laken Tomlinson addition) has been charged by PFF with three or four sacks allowed in each of the past five seasons, and he has surrendered between 14 and 33 pressures each year in that span. 

As a result, his overall grades have fluctuated but fallen well short of the 87.5 mark he received during his rookie campaign. The Kansas State product has drawn strong reviews in the past based on his run blocking, although that too has taken a step back recently.

In any case, Whitehair will be reunited with Luke Getsy as a result of this deal. The latter served as Chicago’s offensive coordinator for the past two years, and he now holds the same title for the Raiders. 

Vegas re-signed center Andre James ahead of free agency on a three-year deal, and as such, the team is set at the center spot. Whitehair could see notable time at guard, though, with Jermaine Eluemunor departing on the open market, Greg Van Roten remaining unsigned and D.J. Fluker being released.

The Raiders entered Monday with over $24M in cap space, giving them more pre-draft flexibility than most other teams around the league. 

This Whitehair deal will eat into that figure somewhat, but Vegas should still be able to afford its incoming draft class without issue while adding a starting-caliber lineman deep into free agency.