Lonnie Johnson Can Help the Raiders in Multiple Ways

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Ezekiel Trezevant | Last updated Mar 14, 2025 1:00 PM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders addressed many of their most pressing needs with their free agency haul early in the signing period. One of those additions was safety Lonnie Graham who most recently played for the Carolina Panthers. The veteran safety is excited to be in Las Vegas.

"Man, I'm super eager and like I'm hungry, and I feel like my contract shows that. I'm not the highest paid guy. I'm probably one of the lowest paid on the team right now. So, my contract shows that, and I'm here just to show what I can do, what I can bring to the table, and then let them make the decision when they finish," Johnson said.

"I'm just humbled to be here in that position. And like you said, I've been playing special teams the past few years, and I'm not going to just throw that away or be shy from that. I'm going to continue to do that at a high level, and then when they give me my opportunity to play defense, I'm going to capitalize this time for sure."

The Raiders have nearly a new front office and coaching staff, but like most teams, they still value players who are versatile enough to play multiple roles. Time will tell what role Johnson has on the defense, but he can make an immediate impact on special teams this season.

Last season, Johnson played nearly 71 percent of the Panthers' special teams snaps, which was the second most of any Panthers special teams player. He will undoubtedly have a role of some sort with the Raiders' special teams unit.

"Playing special teams can be a energy spark for like any team. So if I go out there the first play, get a big hit - I call it a boom hit, like if the crowd give one of them 'Oohs' out of the crowd - if you ever heard that, I probably hit somebody out there," Johnson said. "But once you do that, you can spark the energy to the defense. They come out there, get a three-and-out, now we got momentum rolling. We got momentum rolling. So, that's the key part about special teams, I would say. You never know, you could change the game too with a turnover and just excelling at it.

"So, I had to learn in my career to adjust to that, because I was so used to playing in Houston on defense, and then I noticed if I wanted to stay in the league, you've got to have some type of adjustment to the game and that was special teams for me, and I'm thankful for that."

This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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