Last season, the Las Vegas Raiders ranked 25th in the NFL with just eight interceptions. A big reason is that the roster lacked a true free safety who could patrol the backend of the defense and take the ball away. That makes the position one of Las Vegas’ needs this offseason, but help could be on the way since free agency is just around the corner.
So, using Pro Football Focus’, The Athletic’s and NFL.com’s rankings, who are the Raiders’ top options on the open market at free safety?
Coby Bryant
PFF ranking:
67 overall (S6)
The Athletic: 42 (S4)
NFL.com: 38 (S2)
Bryant’s NFL career got off to a slow start, as he was playing nickel corner and struggling at that position. However, he switched to free safety ahead of the 2024 campaign, when Mike Macdonald took over as the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach, and has flourished. The 2022 fourth-round pick has seven interceptions and 13 passes defended and has recorded overall PFF grades in the low 70s over the last two seasons. He’s also been a factor in the running game since switching positions, earning marks of 79.5 and 75.2 (including playoffs) in that department. New head coach Klint Kubiak only spent one season with the former Seahawk, but that does give the Silver and Black a small connection with the impending free agent.
Bryan Cook
PFF ranking: 19 (S1)
The Athletic: 37 (S3)
NFL.com: 29 (S1)
Cook’s ball production is a little underwhelming, with just three interceptions and 15 passes defended in his career. Also, he failed to come down with a pick this past season. But the four-year pro surrendered a career-low 182 yards when targeted and allowed a reception once every 22.9 coverage snaps in 2025 to finish as PFF’s sixth-highest graded safety in coverage (83.2). Additionally, the former Kansas City Chief earned a high mark against the run (80.1) to finish as the site’s fourth-best safety overall (83.5). However, Las Vegas should proceed with caution since Cook could fall into the “one-year wonder” category, never grading out higher than 65.2 before this past campaign.
Jalen Thompson
PFF ranking: 65 (S5)
The Athletic: 52 (S5)
NFL.com: 74 (S6)
Versatility is arguably Thompson’s biggest calling card. In addition to nearly 2,500 career snaps at free safety (per PFF), he’s also logged over 2,000 snaps in the box and just under 1,200 at slot corner. However, the 27-year-old (turns 28 in July) hasn’t had an interception since 2023 and only has nine PDs over the last two years, meaning he might not have the ball production the Raiders are looking for. That could be chalked up to Thompson spending more time in the box, though. From 2021 to 2023, he was primarily used as a deep defender or slot corner and racked up eight picks and 24 PDs, while recording about 33.4 percent of his total snaps at strong safety. The latter bumped up to 40.2 percent over the last two years.
Reed Blankenship
PFF ranking: 65 (S5)
The Athletic: 52 (S5)
NFL.com: 74 (S6)
The Raiders could be in a position to buy low on Blankenship since he’s coming off a down season, recording a career-low 32.7 PFF coverage grade with just one interception and four PDs. That being said, the four-year veteran did have good ball production in 2023 and 2024, combining for seven interceptions and 17 PDs, and graded out in the 70s during the first three years of his career. Additionally, Blankenship was a good run defender last season, recording a 73.9 mark and a career-high 11 ‘defensive stops’ in that department.
Alohi Gilman
PFF ranking: 82 (S12)
The Athletic: 83 (S8)
NFL.com: NR
Gilman has had an interesting career to this point. He was a role player during his first three seasons, then became a full-time starter in 2023 and performed well with two interceptions, 10 PDs and three forced fumbles to earn a two-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Chargers. However, the 2020 sixth-round pick battled injuries and saw a dip in production with just one pick, four PDs and no FFs the following season. Gilman never seemed to be a fit in then-Chargers’ defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s defense and was traded midseason to the Baltimore Ravens, where he enjoyed a bounce-back performance. The safety didn’t log an interception but had nine PDs (six over 12 games in Baltimore) and the second-highest PFF coverage grade (71.9) of his career in 2025.
Honorable mentions: Kamren Curl, Jaylinn Hawkins, Ar’Darius Washington, Andre Cisco
