New England Patriots: 5 Landing Spots for Dont’a Hightower
By Hunter Davis
2. Oakland Raiders
I know, at this point the dream matchups are killing you, but bear with me for one second. After signing Super Bowl XLIII MVP Malcolm Smith to a contract, the Raiders thought their quest for a perfect linebacker group was over.
Nope, they were wrong.
After an excruciating season of seeing blown coverages and poor linebacker play, from anyone not named Khalil Mack, it’s time to take the next step. Adding Dont’a Hightower is intriguing for the Raiders because it adds to an already scary defense.
The Raiders were a Derek Carr away from putting up a serious fight in the AFC playoffs. The Raiders cannot go the next 4 years relying on Khalil Mack to make every play, and with the addition of Hightower, they would own the tools necessary to compete against any offense in the NFL.
Hightower and Mack would complete a pass rush-run stop combo unlike anyone has ever seen in the NFL. With their unique skills, and abilities to make game changing plays, this should intrigue Hightower to pay Oakland a visit.
Oakland has close to $47 million dollars in cap space. More than enough to improve their secondary and still add Hightower. The defense would be at the level of Kansas City’s and Denver’s as top 10 in the league.
With a real possibility this happens, New England fans better start paying attention to what Oakland does in free agency.
With that number 1 is…