When the Raiders signed Lamarcus Joyner away from the Los Angeles Rams, the hope was that they would be adding a near Pro Bowl defender who could be a versatile chess piece in the secondary. After several years of success in the slot and at free safety for the Rams, Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden identified him as a fit in their defense.
Unfortunately, he’s been anything but so far with the Raiders. Primarily playing in the slot, Joyner has often been the weakest spot in their secondary. Joyner just hasn’t been able to make any plays in coverage and is often picked on at a high-rate.
In a recent article by Maurice Moton of Bleacher Report, Joyner’s contract with the Raiders is currently among the league’s worst. Here is a snippet of his thoughts on the slot defender:
“The Las Vegas Raiders made a two-pronged mistake with Lamarcus Joyner. First, they signed Joyner to a four-year, $42 million deal to play slot cornerback even though he made the most impact as a safety with the Los Angeles Rams through his first five seasons.
With the Raiders, Joyner recorded 115 tackles, nine for loss. Between 2019 and 2020, he improved as a tackler but didn’t provide much in coverage, breaking up just eight passes without an interception while allowing a 66.7 percent completion rate.”
With the Raiders being in a significant cap crunch, it does feel likely that the team will move on from him at some point this offseason. He currently has no guaranteed money left on his contract and he doesn’t feel like the “type” of defender Gus Bradley traditionally has in his secondary.
Don’t be surprised if the Raiders release Joyner to clear cap space in the upcoming days.
