Follow every signing and trade with The Athletic’s live coverage of 2025 NFL free agency
This is a running analysis of the Las Vegas Raiders’ moves and key departures during the initial wave of free agency, which got off to an early booming start with Friday’s trade with the Seattle Seahawks for quarterback Geno Smith. More moves are sure to come as the legal tampering window opened Monday at 9 a.m. PT, and the NFL’s new league year, when teams can formally sign free agents who played elsewhere in 2024, begins Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT.
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LB Robert Spillane
March 10: Spillane agreed to terms with the New England Patriots, according to a league source. It’s a massive loss for the Raiders, as Spillane has played at a high level since they signed him away from the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023. He was a favorite of defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and made the calls on defense. The Raiders now have a huge void to fill in the middle of that side of the ball.
DT Adam Butler
March 9: The Raiders agreed to terms with Butler on a three-year contract worth $16.5 million, with $11 million guaranteed, per league sources. Butler, 30, was angry about how free agency went a year ago when he signed a one-year deal to return to the Raiders. He responded by setting a career-high in snaps (858) and quarterback hits (10) for an injury-riddled defense and also helped mentor Tyree Wilson. He originally signed with the Raiders in 2023 and also also played for the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, where he won a Super Bowl ring in playing with now Raiders minority owner Tom Brady.
QB Geno Smith
March 7: The Raiders solved their quarterback problem by sending a 2025 third-round pick (via the New York Jets) to the Seahawks for Smith. He’s easily the best quarterback they’ve had since releasing Derek Carr after the 2022 season. It’ll be Smith’s first time working with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, but he has plenty of familiarity with coach Pete Carroll and quarterback coach Greg Olson to help get him up to speed. The 34-year-old quarterback may not be the Raiders’ quarterback of the future, but he gives them a quarterback for the present.
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C Andre James
March 7: Less than one year after signing him to a three-year, $24 million extension, the Raiders released James. He’s been their starting center since 2021 but struggled mightily in 2024. Las Vegas saved a little over $1.49 million in cap space by letting him go. They explored trading him, but there wasn’t much interest given his base salary of $6.51 million in 2025, according to a league source. Guard Jackson Powers-Johnson started a few games at center when James was hurt, and he could now make that transition full time.
WR Michael Gallup
March 7: The Raiders terminated Gallup from the reserve/retired list, which frees him up to sign with another team. Gallup signed with the Raiders last offseason but abruptly retired during training camp.
DT Tomari Fox
March 7: Fox, who signed as an undrafted free agent last offseason and stuck around on the practice squad but didn’t make it through to the active roster, was waived.
DE Maxx Crosby
March 5: For the second time in three years, a new regime’s first move was rewarding Crosby with a huge deal. The Raiders signed the 27-year-old defensive end to a three-year extension worth $106.5 million ($91.5 million guaranteed), briefly making Crosby the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history (he was surpassed on Sunday by Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett). Since 2019, Crosby ranks first among defensive linemen in tackles for loss (105), tied for fourth in sacks (59 1/2) and fourth in quarterback hits (144). He missed five games last season — the first time he missed any action during his six-year career — due to a high ankle sprain.
Maxx Crosby’s extension briefly made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. (Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images)
OL Alex Cappa
March 5: General manager John Spytek added an offensive lineman with whom he is very familiar. The Raiders signed the former Cincinnati Bengals guard to a two-year, $11 million contract, with half of that money guaranteed. Cappa started all 50 regular-season games for the Bengals since joining them in 2022. He’s coming off a rough season, but he’s a durable, experienced veteran who overlapped with Spytek with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2018 to 2021.
QB Gardner Minshew
March 5: The Raiders released Minshew and took a dead-money salary-cap hit of $10.82 million (freeing up $3 million) after a disastrous season by the journeyman as the starter. Minshew was benched three times and made nine starts before suffering a season-ending broken collarbone in Week 12. He averaged 6.6 yards per attempt (31st), 0.9 passing touchdowns per game (34th among passers with at least 100 attempts) and 1.4 turnovers per game (second most in the NFL) after narrowly beating out Aidan O’Connell for the starting job in training camp.
WR DJ Turner
March 3: The Raiders informed Turner that they wouldn’t sign him to a restricted free-agent tender. Turner was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Raiders in 2022 and eventually developed into a core special teams contributor who also started six games at receiver in 2024. He suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss the final five games of the season, however, and is still rehabbing.
QB Desmond Ridder
Feb. 28: The Raiders informed Ridder that they wouldn’t sign him to a restricted free-agent tender. They signed him off the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad last season, and he played in six games, but he struggled mightily.
S Isaiah Pola-Mao
Feb. 24: The Raiders re-signed the safety, who was going to become a restricted free agent in March, to a two-year extension worth $7.45 million. Pola-Mao, 25, started 14 games last season after Marcus Epps suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 3.
“We don’t want to let any good players walk out of our building, especially young players,” Spytek said. “You’ve got to give a lot of respect to a young kid that’s undrafted and has a chance to get thrust into the starting lineup and, the next thing you know, he’s playing at a good level.”
WR Kyle Phillips
Feb. 18: Phillips was signed to take Keenan Isaac’s roster spot. He played for offensive coordinator Chip Kelly for three seasons when he was the head coach at UCLA from 2018 to 2021. He was drafted in the fifth round by the Tennessee Titans in 2022 and spent two seasons there as a rotational receiver and return specialist. After getting released, he spent last season on the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad. He’ll compete for a roster spot with the Raiders.
CB Keenan Isaac
Feb. 18: Isaac was waived. He was signed to the Raiders’ practice squad last November but never saw any game action. He was signed to a reserve/futures contract in January before getting released.
(Top photo: Quinn Harris / Getty Images)
