Las Vegas Raiders: 5 offseason needs in 2020

2. Address the middle linebacker spot

What to do when it comes to always-controversial linebacker Vontaze Burfict? His first season with the Raiders lasted only four games before he was suspended for the final 12 contests after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Colts’ tight end Jack Doyle in Week 4 at Indianapolis. The high-intensity defender totaled 18 tackles in his brief stint with Jon Gruden’s team this past year. Now the eight-year veteran will see his contract expire on March 18 and it remains to be seen if he’ll be making the trip to Las Vegas with the Silver and Black.

Veteran Will Compton played in nine games for the Raiders and started the final four games at middle linebacker. He inked a deal in late October, as did veterans Preston Brown and Brandon Marshall – the latter cut by the team earlier in the years. But the latter pair were let go a few days later. Meanwhile, Compton finished with 39 tackles. But like Burfict, the well-traveled defender can also become an unrestricted free agent next month.

This is a team with a slew of early draft choices in April and one that has used that process the past two years to rebuild the defensive line. Could Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock have their eyes on a linebacker who can roam the field from sideline to sideline? Or could both Burfict and Compton be in the team’s plans one way or another in 2020?

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