Silver And Black Pride
Veterans like Justin Simmons, Mike Hilton, Quinton Jefferson can fill needs, bolster Silver & Black defense
We’ve rounded the corner past June we’re about three weeks out from the kickoff to Las Vegas Raiders training camp.
It’s an integral offseason in the augural year with general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll at the helm and when rookies kick off camp July 17, the hard work and grind the Silver & Black are engaging in with eyes of competing and not floundering in 2025 recommences.
The veterans follow their neophyte counterparts on July 22 and we’ll find out plenty about this rendition of the Raiders. Pads will come on and the competition should begin to produce expected starters. And when Carroll and his Raiders meet the Seattle Seahawks (his former team) on August 7 to kick off preseason play, we’ll learn even more.
As NFL teams embark on their respective training camps, rosters sit at 90. According to both Over The Cap and Spotrac, Las Vegas has about $31.2-plus or $31.8-plus million in cap space available. And with that in mind, let’s take a look at available free agents that make sense for the Raiders.
I’m surprised Simmons remains on the open market as the Boston College product is an impact defensive back since his arrival to the NFL as the Denver Broncos’ third-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
He’s older at 31 but is a 6-foot-2 and 202-pound safety who remained an effective safety and takeaway artist for the Atlanta Falcons in 2024 (62 total tackles, two interceptions, and seven pass deflections). Pro Football Reference charted Simmons as allowing 22 receptions on 37 targets for 229 yards and three touchdowns. The 59.5 percent completion rate he allowed when quarterbacks targeted him is impressive.
Simmons has the size, awareness, instincts, and capability to be a thief on the Raiders back end and would be a better option in three-safety alignments alongside Jeremy Chinn and Isaiah Pola-Mao than Lonnie Johnson Jr. (who is of similar size, but two years younger).
That all said, with the Pittsburgh Steelers trading safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to acquire cornerback Jalen Ramsey from the Miami Dolphins, there’s another AFC squad who needs a safety.
I’m pretty sure everyone has written about Hilton at this point.
Yet, Las Vegas’ depth at the slot/nickel cornerback spot is less than ideal and despite being 31 and “only” 5-foot-9 and 184 pounds, the Mississippi product plays much bigger than his size and is a fierce defender.
Hilton’s 24 total tackles for loss the last two seasons (12 in 2023 and 2024) showcase the cornerback’s ability to mix it up and get dirty where many others simply make “business decisions”.
Hilton isn’t a volume interception machine (one in 2024, two in 2023, one in 2022 as examples) but holds up well in coverage and he’s accustomed to be activated on the blitz — something Graham likes to do with his defensive...
