Are the Raiders Expected to Re-Sign Karl Joseph?
The former first round draft pick, Karl Joseph was creating a pretty solid resume before going down with a season ending injury in week ten. Looking onward, the Raiders, more specifically, Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock, are tasked with the difficult decision of re-signing the human hit-stick or letting him walk.
Writer for lastwordonprofootball.com Sebestain Livermore believes that the Raiders should let Joseph walk. However, several other Raiders blog sites and experts disagree. In fact, Joseph was even honored by Pro Football Focus as one of top safety free agents.
It's no secret that Joseph has struggled to live up to the hype of being a 14th overall pick but this was his season. That was until Joseph went down with a knee injury after intercepting Chargers quarterback, Phillip Rivers on the final play of the game.
The main concern in Joseph's game is that he can't be lined up in coverage. To put this in basic terms, at 5' 10", Joseph is exposed when asked to cover a taller and much lengthier player, like a tight end. With that being said, he thrives in stopping the run. To no surprise of Mountaineer fans, Joseph is also known for his ability to, well legally take the life of an opponent with a vicious, but clean hit.
When Joseph was on the field, the Raiders held the opposing teams rush offense to just 87 yards per game. In his absence, the Raiders rush defense gave up 119 yards per game. Now Joseph isn't the only reason for the vast differences in those before and after stats, but it's evident that the Raiders are much better defensively with Joseph than without him.
According to overthecap.com, the Raiders 2020 cap space is estimated to be $73 million. Mayock and Gruden will be tasked with filling various spots this free agency and could re-sign Joseph for value. They won't have to play any sort of guessing game with him either as they have already seen a pretty solid sample size of his worth.