Ex-Jets LB Darron Lee signs with Raiders

Former Jets linebacker Darron Lee has landed with his fourth NFL team.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Lee signed with the Las Vegas Raiders. The terms of the deal were not released.

The Jets made Lee a first-round pick out of Ohio State in 2016. He started right away as a rookie, but he had his fair share of struggles. Lee had the lowest Pro Football Focus grade among rookie linebackers (38.3), mainly because of his poor coverage skills. Lee recorded 73 tackles, three tackles for loss, three pass breakups, three quarterback hits, and one sack in his rookie year.

Lee’s sophomore season wasn’t much better, as he had a 34.9 Pro Football Focus grade, which ranked 87th out of 88 linebackers who qualified. The numbers improved for Lee, as he had 94 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, three sacks, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

The following season, it looked like Lee was finally becoming the player that the Jets thought they were getting when they drafted him 20th overall in 2016. He had 74 total tackles, five tackles for loss, five pass breakups, and two quarterback hits in 12 games. However, Lee was slapped with a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. That ultimately ended Lee’s Jets career, as the team declined his fifth-year option and then traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2020 sixth-round pick in May 2019.

Lee played one season with the Chiefs and got a Super Bowl ring in a limited role. He had 31 total tackles in 16 games in 2019. But Lee, a free agent at the time, was then suspended for the first four games of the 2020 season.

Eventually, the Bills signed Lee to their practice squad in November 2020. He was on the Bills’ active roster for two games and spent the rest of the season on the practice squad.

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