Raiders should kick the tires on one of these three safeties still available in free agency

There are still three very good safeties available in free agency and the Raiders should seriously consider adding one of them. The players I am talking about are Tre Boston, Kenny Vaccaro, and Eric Reid. Any one of them would be an excellent addition to the Oakland defense and with how bad the secondary was last year they need all the help they can get.

Eric Reid is especially intriguing because he is so versatile that he even played linebacker in a pinch for the 49ers last year. Not did he hold his own, but the selflessness to be in a contract year and agree to play an unfamiliar position is remarkable.

Reid finished last year with 2 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery, 4 passes defensed and 52 tackles in 12 starts so his numbers.

If you don’t like Reid there are still two other very good options still available in Kenny Vacarro and Tre Boston.

Vaccaro had 3 interceptions, 7 passes defensed, 1.5 sacks, 45 tackles, and 1 fumble recovery returned for a touchdown in 12 games last year for the Saints.

Tre Boston might actually be the best option of the 3 though. He had 5 interceptions, 8 passes defensed, and 56 tackles for the Chargers last season.

I still like Reid more than Boston because he is a hard hitter that would fit the “rover” safety position very well and allow the Raiders to have 3 safeties on the field at the same time when they want to be creative. One benefit that Boston does bring though is that he is the youngest of these safeties, he is 25 while Reid is 26 and Vacarro is 27. Marcus Gilchrist — one safety the Raiders did acquire this offseason — will be 30 in December.

Eric Reid has been one of the highest profile players involved in starting the National Anthem protest in the NFL. He was a teammate of Colin Kaepernick and was actually the first player to participate with Kaepernick after his protest first started. Now Reid has even filed a grievance for collusion against the NFL.

Here’s the other kicker though; Tre Boston and Kenny Vacarro both participated in the protest as well. There are people who believe all three are only available right now because of their protest, which may very well be true. The thing is, the protest shouldn’t matter one way or the other when considering signing a player.

Whether these guys kneel or stand for the anthem shouldn’t dictate whether they are worthy of being signed. Any of these three safeties would improve the Raiders and they could still use more help at the position.

If one of them can make the Raiders better then they should consider signing him. They need to flip the script on their terrible pass defense from last year, adding one of these guys would be a huge help. If they will help Oakland win games then any one of them would be a welcome addition in my eyes.