3 Free agents Las Vegas Raiders could still sign in August
By Randy Gurzi
3. Devonta Freeman, RB
Last season, Josh Jacobs was really good for the Raiders. The rookie first-round pick ran for 1,150 yards and seven touchdowns and had an average of 4.8 yards per attempt. He’s a legit No. 1 running back in the NFL and Jon Gruden loves to pound the ball with one back — so why would Devonta Freeman be a good fit? Simple — insurance.
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Freeman is a powerful back who started to trend in the wrong direction the past three seasons for the Atlanta Falcons. For that reason, he’s still without a job. Freeman doesn’t seem to agree that he’s declined any as he’s been vocal about not wanting to take a lesser role than he deserves, however, that could change now that teams are entering training camp and he still has no suitors.
Las Vegas could make sense for him since they don’t really have a true work-horse style back behind Jacobs — who did miss three games as a rookie. Their reserves are Lynn Bowden, Jr. and Jalen Richard who can both be good in spurts but if Jacobs were to go down for any length of time, someone such as Freeman who can run it 20 times in a game would be a solid back-up plan.
Of course, he too has his own injury concerns to worry about as Freeman has missed significant time in recent seasons. Still, moving to a reserve role could help him get through a season healthy and if he does well in the Raiders offense in 2020, he could help strengthen his case for more money in the 2021 offseason.