Source: Raiders finalizing deal with Amukamara
The Las Vegas Raiders are finalizing an agreement with veteran cornerback Prince Amukamara, a source told ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
Amukamara, who has started 99 games in his career, should compete for a starting job with Las Vegas at best and provide much-needed experience and depth at cornerback at the very least.
The Raiders return Trayvon Mullen, who started the last 10 games of his rookie season last year, and used a first-round draft pick, No. 19 overall, on Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette and a fourth-round pick on slot corner Amik Robertson.
1 Related
Amukamara, who turns 31 on June 6, was released by the Chicago Bears on Feb. 21, as he was entering the final season of his three-year, $27 million extension signed in 2018. His cap hit was to be $8 million.
Amukamara spent three seasons with the Bears, appearing in 44 of 48 games with 42 starts, and had three interceptions (all in 2018), 29 passes defended, three forced fumbles, a recovery and a defensive touchdown.
In nine NFL seasons, he has 476 tackles and 10 interceptions.
A first-round draft pick of the New York Giants in 2011, he was part of their Super Bowl team in his rookie year. He also spent a season with the Jacksonville Jaguars before joining the Bears in 2017.
Raiders general manager Mike Mayock acknowledged before the draft that the Raiders needed to address the position, especially after an offseason agreement with free-agent cornerback Eli Apple fell through.
“We feel like we got a bunch of talented young kids that we don’t know enough about yet,” Mayock said. “Trayvon played really well the second half of the season. We believe that he’s going to be a starter for years to come. Isaiah Johnson was a fourth-round pick, a former wide receiver with all kinds of physical skill set. We love his traits. He got hurt early, we brought him back late. He’s a guy we can’t wait to see play. Keisean Nixon was a free agent out of South Carolina who made the team and played well on special teams. He’s a really competitive young man. And Dylan Mabin is another kid out of Fordham who got hurt and didn’t get a chance to show what he can do.
“So, we’ve got four or five young corners who we’re kind of intrigued by. Now, do we think that we need to get better there? Yeah.”
Enter Arnette, Robertston and, now, Amukamara.
ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez contributed to this report.
