Oakland Raiders Sign Deals with Free Agents CB Patrick Lee and OT Khalif Barnes

– Mar 22, 2012

Raiders new general manager Reggie McKenzie continues to bolster the team's offensive line and secondary. By persisting to add more depth at the cornerback position, Raiders signed former Packers defensive back Patrick Lee to a one year deal. Lee played for McKenzie with the Packers.

Lee was almost exclusively a special teams player last season. He had just one defensive tackle and was targeted just once all season in pass coverage.  Lee's not an experienced player in the NFL by any means, being selected out of Aurburn in 2008 to the Packers, he has only started in one game. 

Lee will likely contend for playing time with last years draft picks, DeMarcus Van Dyke and Chimdi Chekwa. 

Another insurance player that will add some depth next season to the Raiders is a familiar face on the offensive line. Oakland has also re-signed right tackle Khalif Barnes. After spending the majority of his first two years with the Raiders as a reserve, Barnes started in all 16 games last season. Oakland is still expected to provide Joe Barksdale a chance to start ahead of Barnes even though his new deal is worth up $2 million for one-year. 

On Wednesday the Raiders also lost their starting center Samson Satele to the Indianapolis Colts in free agency. Starting guard Stefan Wisniewski is expected to replace him at center this coming season. 

Oren Shiri is the founder of RaiderNationAccess.com and you can follow him on twitter @NFLorentime