It was exactly a month ago that Derrick Johnson joined the Raiders. After the draft and nearly two months since the start of free agency. Not much is expected of free agents who sign that late in the offseason. But Johnson’s addition was not considered to be minor for this Raiders team which was still looking at a glaring hole at middle linebacker.
Despite his late free agent addition, and his age (35), he was instantly put in place as a starter. Jon Gruden even called him a ‘big time’ addition — not something you usually hear from a guy who had little to no interest from around the league and signed to a very friendly one-year contract.