Gus Bradley is excited to work with Denzel Perryman again: ‘He brings explosiveness to us’

The Las Vegas Raiders’ trade for linebacker Denzel Perryman is not official yet, but defensive coordinator Gus Bradley felt good enough about the situation to address it on Thursday when he spoke to the media.

The Raiders agreed to trade for Perryman from the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday night. Perryman and Bradley were previously together at the Chargers for the past four seasons.

“Denzel, we have a lot of history with him just from our time back with the Chargers. He’s a very good leader, very good pro. He brings some explosiveness to us,” Bradley told reporters on Thursday. “He’s got very good instincts. He understands the package and what is asked of him. So we just need to create some more depth there because of some of the situations we’ve been in. So, healthy and coming back in and able to play, he’ll be a good addition.”

The trade won’t be official until Perryman, who has been banged up in Carolina’s training camp, passes a physical. The Raiders will send their sixth-round draft pick to the Panthers and will receive Carolina’s seventh-round pick in the 2022 draft. Perryman has played six NFL seasons. He has missed 27 games in his career. He played 13 games last season and started in six of them.

The Raiders had a need because of a glut of injuries at linebacker. Starting linebacker Nicholas Morrow may miss time during the regular season with a foot injury. Backup linebacker Javin White is dealing with a knee injury. Linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski may return next week, and linebacker Darron Lee will miss the season on the injured reserve.

The way Bradley made it sound is that Perryman will be a depth piece and a guy who can play if needed — that may happen early in the season.