Raiders release linebacker Tahir Whitehead week before NFL free agency

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The Las Vegas Raiders will have a different look at linebacker next season. 

The Raiders released Tahir Whitehead just over a week before the official start of free agency, the team announced Monday. ESPN's Field Yates first reported the news. 

Whitehead started all 16 games for the Raiders in his second season with the Silver and Black. He posted 108 tackles, but NBC Sports Bay Area's Scott Bair wrote in January that the Raiders needed to cut Whitehead in order to revamp their linebacking corps.

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Cutting Whitehead will save the Raiders $6.25 million against the salary cap, giving them the flexibility to address the position when NFL free agency officially begins next Wednesday. 

That's just one option in front of coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock, as the Raiders will have plenty of talented linebackers to pick from in the 2020 NFL Draft in April.

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