Friday night, the Raiders hosted free agent cornerback Shawntae Spencer according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. The veteran corner was released from the 49ers last week after eight seasons in San Francisco.
If he were to sign with the team, he would join fellow veteran corner Ron Bartell as part of the Raiders new corners. Both are 30 years of age but both also have a great deal of experience to bring to the table. Spencer has 72 career starts and Bartell has 66 career starts.
Among his 72 starts, Spencer has started every game in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He was the presumptive starter coming into camp last season but had a setback when he went out with a hamstring injury in training camp. And with Carlos Rogers playing so well, Spencer never got his job back. He was deemed expendable and the team re-signed Rogers to a long term deal.
Spencer has 11 career interceptions. His best season came in 2006 when he had 4 interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, 19 passes defended, and 83 tackles (74 solo). His last full season in 2010 was a pretty good one. He had 3 interceptions, 9 passes defended, and 42 tackles (38 solo).
Raiders new defensive coordinator, Jason Tarver, knows Spencer well as they spent seven seasons together with the 49ers while Tarver was the team's outside linebackers coach.
If the team signs Spencer, it could mean the end of their free agent search for corners. It would also mean they went off the grid for both of them. It's worth noting that the team had only hosted two other players prior to Spencer and signed both of them (Mike Brisiel, Ron Bartell).
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