The Raiders have signed their first offensive free agent of the offseason and the move keeps with their defensive theme of signing modestly priced veterans to bolster a thin roster.
Unlike some of those defensive players, however, this signing comes with limited upside. The Raiders announced Tuesday that they have signed tackle Alex Barron, who hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2010.
That came with the Cowboys, for whom Barron started at left tackle in the season opener that year. As the game against the Redskins ended, the Cowboys appeared to have thrown a game-winning touchdown pass to Roy Williams but it was called back because of a holding penalty on Barron. It was his third holding penalty of the day and Barron wouldn’t start another game all year.
Barron was in camp with the Saints in 2011 and the Seahawks in 2012, but didn’t make either team’s regular season roster. He was a first-round pick of the Rams in 2005 and started 74 games over five seasons in St. Louis without much acclaim before shuffling off to Dallas before the 2010 season. The Raiders recently re-signed right tackle Khalif Barnes and have Jared Veldheer at left tackle.