Raiders have chance to shore up secondary with free agent

The Las Vegas Raiders are heading into the 2025 season  with major questions in their secondary.

Cornerback, in particular, is shaping up to be a sore spot for the Raiders. Two of the three expected starters are Eric Stokes and Darnay Holmes, but both have seen their fair share of struggles in recent seasons. Head coach Pete Carroll has admitted that the other will feature a rotation of players, suggesting no one has jumped out enough to claim the spot outright.

With Week One approaching against the New England Patriots on Sunday, the Raiders may have to consider a true last-minute move to keep the position from holding them back.

A potential solution for the Raiders comes from their next opponent.

Pitching a move that could aid the Raiders in this regard, The Sporting News’ Mike Moraitis suggested the team look into signing former New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers.

“Peppers, who was surprisingly released by the New England Patriots last week and already has experience in Patrick Graham’s system from their days together with the New York Giants, would bolster Las Vegas’ safeties room,” wrote Moraitis.

While Peppers is not himself a cornerback, what he does gives the Raiders some versatility to mask any issues.

Safety Jeremy Chinn has been experimented with at slot cornerback before, and adding Peppers to the safety room gives the Raiders more freedom to add him there. Chinn would provide an upgrade on Holmes, while Peppets inserts himself into the starting lineup almost immediately. The Raiders have been unafraid to tinker with their roster, already switching Jamal Adams and Laki Tasi to different positions and both working out rather well.

Adding Peppers would be an unconventional way to shore up the secondary, but the Raiders should at least consider it as an option.