{"id":760538,"date":"2026-02-18T15:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/760538\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T15:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:08:15","slug":"espn-names-las-vegas-raiders-as-best-fit-for-3-2026-free-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/760538\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN names Las Vegas Raiders as \u2018best fit\u2019 for 3 2026 free agents"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL\u2019s franchise tag window opened on Tuesday, and 2026 free agency is right around the corner. As a result, ESPN\u2019s Matt Bowen<\/a> released his Top 50 free agents and named the Las Vegas Raiders as \u201cbest fits\u201d for three of them: cornerback Jaylen Watson, wide receiver Romeo Doubs and guard Zion Johnson.<\/p>\n

CB Jaylen Watson, Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n

Watson, who had 64 tackles with the Chiefs in 2025, is scheme-versatile, and the Raiders could land one of the top corners in free agency with this move to upgrade the perimeter of their defense. He has the length to challenge in press and the route awareness to play top-down on the ball in zone. \u2014 Bowen<\/p>\n

Watson is coming off the best year of his career, recording double-digit starts for the first time and surrendering a career-low 69.0 passer rating when targeted, according to Pro Football Focus<\/a>. The question is, is he a better option than re-signing in-house free agent Eric Stokes? For what it\u2019s worth, despite having one more year of NFL experience, Stokes is the younger of the two corners, turning 27 next month, while Watson will be 28 in September. Stokes wasn\u2019t listed in Bowen\u2019s top 50 free agents, though.<\/p>\n

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WR Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers<\/p>\n

The Raiders can add to their wide receivers room for new coach Klint Kubiak by signing Doubs. His ability to uncover and work the heavy traffic areas of the field would be great for anticipated top pick\u00a0Fernando Mendoza. A reliable pass catcher, Doubs had 55 receptions for 724 yards with the Packers in 2025. \u2014 Bowen<\/p>\n

This fit could have some legs to it. Kubiak\u2019s offense in Vegas could use some help out wide, and Doubs has been playing in a similar offense over the last four years. Packers head coach and play-caller Matt LaFleur also stems from the Kyle Shanahan\/Sean McVay coaching tree. That being said, the 2022 fourth-round pick doesn\u2019t have great production, never recording more than 800 yards<\/a> in a season. Part of the reason is that he\u2019s dealt with several injuries, playing in all 17 regular-season games just once in four years.<\/p>\n

G Zion Johnson, Los Angeles Chargers<\/p>\n

The Raiders can upgrade their offensive line with Johnson. He\u2019d play the left guard spot in Klint Kubiak\u2019s system, using his mobility in the zone run game. Plus, Johnson\u2019s youth and durability fit the rebuild in Las Vegas. He is just entering his prime playing years, with a 90.7% pass block win rate over his four-year career with the Chargers. \u2014 Bowen<\/p>\n

I understand where Bowen is coming from with Johnson\u2019s fit in Vegas, but I disagree with this one. Interior offensive line is arguably the Chargers\u2019 biggest need this offseason, and the 2022 first-round pick\u2019s play over the last four seasons was part of the problem. There\u2019s a reason Los Angeles didn\u2019t pick up his fifth-year option last offseason, and for what it\u2019s worth, Johnson has never posted a PFF grade above 65<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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In Other Raiders\u2019 Links:<\/p>\n

Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe in free agency?<\/a>: \u201cAt 27 years old (28 on April 9), the undrafted free agent is set to get a healthy raise over the $1.98 million he made with Seattle this past year,\u201d S&BP\u2019s Ray Aspuria<\/a> wrote. \u201cAnd Kubiak\u2026should make a strong suggestion to general manager Joh Spytek that Jobe is a defender worth spending money on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fernando Mendoza\u2019s mental makeup<\/a>: \u201cMendoza is the rare QB prospect who is mentally and physically tough enough to handle the ups and downs that can come with starting on a bad team, while also being the centerpiece as that team grows from young to polished,\u201d The Athletic\u2019s Nick Baumgardner<\/a> wrote. \u201cHe\u2019s a top-five prospect in this class, and likely its No. 1 pick.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL\u2019s franchise tag window opened on Tuesday, and 2026 free agency is right around the corner. As…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[117,241,482,3619,7,194,41,345,4814,8488,110,8357,393,1014,262,2444,2443,14245,6,3995,238,237,5654,524,991,8402],"class_list":{"0":"post-760538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-baltimore-ravens","9":"tag-chargers","10":"tag-eric-stokes","11":"tag-fernando-mendoza","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-free-agent","14":"tag-green-bay","15":"tag-green-bay-packers","16":"tag-jaylen-watson","17":"tag-josh-jobe","18":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","19":"tag-klint-kubiak","20":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","21":"tag-los-angeles","22":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","23":"tag-losangeles","24":"tag-losangeleschargers","25":"tag-matt-bowen","26":"tag-nfl","27":"tag-romeo-doubs","28":"tag-seahawks","29":"tag-seattle","30":"tag-the-raiders","31":"tag-vegas","32":"tag-wisconsin","33":"tag-zion-johnson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116092266574810833","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}