A Look at Raiders' Safeties, Impending Decisions

The Las Vegas Raiders will be one of the most active during free agency.

The legal tampering period begins in a few weeks, and new general manager John Spytek has several important decisions to make.

The Raiders have over $92 million in cap space to spend, second only to the New England Patriots. This financial flexibility and several selections in the 2025 NFL Draft give the Raiders a great foundation to build a team.

Before pursuing the open market, they must take care of their own players. Several defensive players, including many starters, are set to become free agents.

We have taken a closer look at each defensive position group throughout the week and the impending decisions the team will have to make.

You can read our breakdown of the defensive end group here, the defensive tackles here, the cornerbacks here, and the linebackers here.

Today, we will focus on the safeties.

The Raiders’ starting safeties, Tre’von Moehrig and Marcus Epps, will both be free agents.

Moehrig is one of the top free-agent defenders on the market this offseason. He could demand a big contract, which could force the Raiders’ hand.

What sort of contract would force the Raiders to consider bringing him back, and what sort of money would be the breaking point?

If Moehrig commanded a deal worth around $15 million annually, would they try to match that, or would they let him walk for that much?

Moehrig is a good player. He had the best season of his career in 2024, posting over 100 tackles and a career-high 10 passes defended and five tackles for loss.

Whether or not the Raiders will keep him on the team will be one of the most intriguing things to follow this offseason.

Epps has been a fine player in Las Vegas but suffered a torn ACL early in the 2024 season. The Raiders had him on a two-year, $12 million contract, which was a solid value deal before his injury.

Because of that injury and his age, it would make sense for the Raiders to look elsewhere for his replacement. However, it would also make sense if they kept him on a team-friendly deal in hopes he can recover from his injury and be the player he was before.

Isaiah Pola-Mao is a restricted free agent, but the Raiders will likely bring him back, as he played so well in Epps’ spot. Pola-Mao can at least be a quality depth piece for this secondary.

Thomas Harper, Chris Smith II, and Trey Taylor are under contract next season. They should all be solid rotational pieces or special teams contributors.

If the Raiders let Moehrig or Epps walk, someone like Justin Simmons or Jeremy Chinn would make sense for this defense.

They could also address the need through the draft by adding a player like Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts or South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori.

Safety will be a major focus this offseason for the Raiders, and it should be interesting to see how they answer that position.

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