Cory Littleton to sign with Raiders: Grade, reaction and more

The Las Vegas Raiders scored a big boost for their linebacking corps, landing Cory Littleton on a three-year deal.

The Raiders are moving to Las Vegas this year and they are taking some big swings to build a contender in Sin City. After inking Marcus Mariota last night, Mike Mayock made a splashy move to bolster the Las Vegas defense, signing former Los Angeles Rams’ standout Cory Littleton to a three-year deal.

Littleton, 26, had a monster year for the Rams in 2019. In 16 games for Los Angeles in 2019, Littleton racked up 134 tackles, 3.5 sacks, recovered four fumbles and picked off two passes for good measure.

The Raiders have been looking to add a playmaker in their linebacking corps and Littleton will provide just that. Littleton is also just entering his prime, so his best football may be yet to come, which is encouraging since Littleton already reached the Pro Bowl in 2018.

Contract Details

Littleton will receive a three-year deal worth up to $36 million from the Raiders. That equates to a base value of $11.75 million per year.

National Reaction

https://twitter.com/AlexWilsonESM/status/1239953823361368064?s=20

By all accounts this deal is an absolute home run for the Raiders, who landed the best linebacker on the market at a very affordable rate. The closest comparison to his deal comes from Blake Martinez, a tackling machine who received $10 million a year from the New York Giants last night.

No one is saying that Martinez isn’t a good player, but Littleton is a significantly better linebacker who can cover and is making, on average, less than two million a year more. That may be more of an indication of Dave Gettleman’s poor ability to evaluate talent, but it shouldn’t take away from the fact that the Raiders scored an absolute coup by getting Littleton at a very reasonable rate.

Grade: A+