Safety is a restricted free agent, ideally fits Las Vegas’ defense, and isn’t going to break the bank
Pete Carrol may be the new dude on the block, but even if he’s a neophyte to the Silver & Black, he’s well aware of Patrick Graham’s exploits.
So much so, the new Las Vegas Raiders head coach saw the value of what Graham brought to the table as defensive coordinator and brought the play caller back into the fold. NFL reporter Josina Anderson provided the first scoop of the Raiders-Graham reunion on Wednesday and, later that evening, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the return was official.
“Graham’s contract expired and he had options, including going to Jacksonville. But Pete Carroll and Tom Brady are fans of Graham and convinced him to return,” Pelissero wrote.
Now that a key defensive domino on Carroll’s coaching staff has fallen, we can shift our eyes to the 28 players who are slated to become free agents when the new league year starts on March 12. Of that group, 17 are unrestricted free agents, five restricted free agents, and six exclusive rights free agents.
We’ll explore one in particular: Safety Isaiah Pola-Mao who is a restricted type.
The 25-year-old undrafted free agent from USC completed his third season in the league and with the Raiders. And that’s why he’s a restricted free agent (RFA) this offseason as players with expiring contracts that have exactly three accrued seasons are RFAs.
I had the chance to ask new #Raiders GM John Spytek about what he saw from Isaiah Pola-Mao in his first year coming in as a starter.
He said “By the time that we played the Raiders in early December he’d grown into a solid football player.” @VegasNation #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/jxTGlPET6y
— Dominic Lavoie (@dominicjlavoie) January 27, 2025
Pola-Mao was an exclusive rights free agent at the end of last season and as such, inked a one-year $985,000. That’s the league minimum salary based on his experience level and once a team extends a qualifying offer to an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA), said player’s only option is to sign that tender or not play football — at all. If a team doesn’t extend a qualifying offer to an ERFA, said player is free to sign with any team in the league.
Pola-Mao completed Year 3 and is coming off a productive season as he started 14 of the 17 games he played. His snap count in 2024 was a quantum leap compared to 2023 as he played 954 snaps on defense (86 percent of the Raiders total) and 152 snaps on special teams (32 percent). The prior year, he had 130 snaps on defense (12 percent) and 304 on special teams (74 percent).
Pola-Mao racked up 89 total tackles (57 solo) with two stops for loss, a sack, two forced fumbles, and five pass deflections, the 6-foot-4 and 205-pound Pola-Mao stepped up as starter when a season-ending injury shelved Marcus Epps.
Pola-Mao has shown the versatility to play in the box or as a high center-field type safety and can be deployed as a linebacker/edge rusher hybrid that blitzes to stymie both the run and get after the quarterback. Our own Matt Holder has explored both the positives and negatives of Pola-Mao’s play this season in his film room pieces.
Pola-Mao’s size, speed, and range, along with performance, upside, and youth all play well with his experience and familiarity with Graham’s defense. Add in his status as a RFA, it’s highly likely he returns to the Raiders’ fold on a one-year tender. The cost isn’t an exorbitant one for Las Vegas general manager John Spytek and Carroll to mull over.
.@Raiders @Isaiah_Pola_Mao has been having a good season; with a great game Sunday in a LVR Win. You build around players like Zay #raidernation #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/yIpyAWSpZA
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 24, 2024
And there are a trio of tenders in this category: First round, second round, and original round/right of first refusal.
Each tender has associated dollar amounts, but those numbers aren’t fully established, yet.
Over The Cap projects the 2025 restricted free agent tenders to be:
- $7.279 million for first round tenders
- $5.217 million for second round
- $3.185 million for right of first refusal
In 2024, the dollar amounts were:
- $6.822 million for first round
- $4.89 million for second round
- $2.985 million for right of first refusal
Thus, if the Raiders place a first or second round tender on Pola-Mao, any team that sends the safety an offer sheet would be required to send Las Vegas the corresponding round draft pick if the team didn’t match.
The likeliest scenario: The Raiders give Pola-Mao a right of first refusal tender and matches the offer another team provides — if it does come to that.
What makes the Raiders safety position intriguing this offseason is the fact that along with Pola-Mao, Epps and the other starting safety Tre’Von Moehrig are slated to hit free agency as unrestricted free agency.
Las Vegas doesn’t have to break the bank to keep Pola-Mao compared to his more veteran counterparts. And a one-year prove-it tender is solid for an ascending player. Both the Raiders and Pola-Mao get to see if there’s continued development necessitating a longer financial commitment between the two parties while also giving Graham a player for his defense that he’s familiar with.