The Raiders are not waiting for the market to open to add a guard. Although several options will be available next week, Las Vegas is grabbing an option early in Alex Cappa.
Released by the Bengals on Monday, Cappa has already agreed to terms with the Raiders, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. Cappa started for three seasons in Cincinnati. Perhaps more notably, he played with Tom Brady during new Raiders GM John Spytek‘s Buccaneers tenure.
Cappa agreed to a two-year, $11MM deal, according to his agency (via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). It includes $5.5MM fully guaranteed, ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds. This looks to cover Cappa for the 2025 season, with the Raiders set to carry flexibility beyond that. Cappa is going into his age-30 season.
This marks a step back from Cappa’s four-year, $35MM Bengals pact, but this is how it often goes for players released before their second contracts conclude. Still, this could be a nice landing spot for Cappa due to the familiarity with Brady and Spytek. It would also offer the Raiders a cheaper option opposite Jackson Powers-Johnson, though the team has Dylan Parham under contract for one more season.
While Cappa has 96 starts on his NFL resume and has missed just one regular-season game during the 2020s, he is coming off a down season that prompted the Bengals to make him a cap casualty. Pro Football Focus graded Cappa as a bottom-10 guard last season. Though, the advanced metrics site viewed the new Raider as playing much better before 2024. PFF slotted Cappa as a top-25 guard in each of the prior four seasons, as the former Bucs third-rounder offered consistency and commanded the Bengals’ attention in 2022. For what it’s worth, PFF graded Parham 17th among guards last season. A position battle could be on tap soon.
Cappa’s lone notable NFL injury — a fractured ankle sustained in a 2020 wild-card game — kept him out of Super Bowl LV. The seven-year veteran still blocked for Brady for two seasons, helping the QB legend-turned-owner/announcer win a seventh Super Bowl ring. Brady will circle back to one of his former teammates; it will be interesting to see if any other ex-Bucs follow.