Patriots sign free agent linebacker Raekwon McMillan
Hours after it was reported he was making a free agent visit to Foxborough, the Patriots made linebacker Raekwon McMillan their latest addition on a one-year deal, according to Ben Standig of The Athletic.
After spending the first three years of his career with the Miami Dolphins, McMillan was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in a Day 3 pick-swap deal. Under Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, McMillan became more of a special teams weapon opposed to his Miami usage, playing a career-high 61 percent of the Raiders’ special teams snaps in 2020, but that move resulted in what was a career-low 16 percent of their downs on defense.
Prior to his Las Vegas run, McMillan was a second-round pick out of Ohio State in 2017, and after a torn ACL in the preseason cost McMillan his rookie year, the 25-year-old returned strong in 2018, making 105 tackles in 16 games for the Dolphins. His 2019 campaign got off to a strong start, too, but a hamstring injury hampered him down the stretch.
When healthy, the 6-foot-2, 242-pound McMillan is an athletic linebacker who isn’t afraid to play downhill and can stop the run. The question is, have injuries limited those skills that made him an All-Big 10 player in 2016? If they haven’t, the Patriots are getting a solid early-down playmaking linebacker with high upside, and yet another upgrade to their run defense. Even if he’s not quite 100%, he could still be a core special teamer.
This is a developing story, and will be updated…
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