According to Adam Schefter, the Raiders are hosting free agent ILB Derrick Johnson for a visit on Thursday.
This is the first reported interest in Johnson since the 2018 year of his contract voided at the start of the offseason.
The Chiefs later announced that they would be moving on from Johnson and have since brought in Anthony Hitchens as his replacement.
As for the Raiders, the could clearly use a veteran inside linebacker, but many expected them to re-sign NaVorro Bowman, so this comes as a bit of a surprise. It’s possible that Oakland feels Bowman’s asking price is too high and they’re looking at other options to gain some leverage.
Johnson, 35, is a former first-round pick of the Chiefs back in 2005. He was entering in the second year of his three-year, $21 million contract that includes $9.75 million guaranteed when he agreed to a pay cut last year that reduced his base salary from $4.75 million to $1 million.
Johnson received a $1 million signing bonus as part of the renegotiation.
In 2017, Johnson appeared in 15 games and recorded 71 tackles, a forced fumble, a recovery and seven pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 33 linebacker out of 88 qualifying players.
We have him featured in our Top 50 Available 2018 NFL Free Agents list.
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