Littleton won’t dodge bad year
Las Vegas’ big ticket free agent linebacker can feel your pain, he feels it too
Cory Littleton could have said no and simply vanished into the offseason the way he seemed to disappear in so many games.
On the day after the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Denver Broncos 3231 to finish a disappointing 8- 8, the media relations staff was doing its best to round up players requested by the media to wrap up a season many would rather not talk about.
It was all done by conference call because of COVID- 19 protocols. Players are contacted through text messages as opposed to the usual cleanout day when reporters in the locker room can approach them face- toface. It would be easy enough to ignore the text messages from media relations staffers, as some certainly did.
Instead, Littleton didn’t run from anything. It was a season that in terms of quality play Littleton was disappointed in himself. He disappointed an organization which signed him to a $ 35.25 million deal over three years, with $ 22 million guaranteed.
So Littleton knew the subject matter before agreeing to speak with the media, and did it anyway. He answered questions honestly and with no sense of an edge or defensive rancor. He referred to underlying factors without making them sound like excuses.
The Raiders, who wrote the check, were expecting a 27- year- old linebacker in the prime of his career capable of sticking with the Travis Kelces of the world. A sure tackler who could range sideline to sideline, make plays and prevent first downs.
The fans, who knew the amount of the check and tend to believe free agency is a panacea when it’s more of a garage sale, haven’t seen a standout Raiders linebacker in so long they couldn’t wait to have one to call their own.
Littleton, at 6- foot- 3, 228 pounds, is the prototype modern linebacker
in terms of athletic skill and range. His last two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, Littleton had 259 tackles, 8 ½ sacks, six interceptions and 22 passes defensed in 32 games.
The Raiders were big on Dallas cornerback Byron Jones, but bowed out when the price got too high. They signed Littleton and were thrilled. So how did it turn out? “It came out miserably,” Littleton said with a sheepish chuckle. “I’ve always said that I wanted to keep myself and keep my play as a top- five linebacker. And the two previous seasons I had. I didn’t come nowhere close to it this year.”
With no offseason program to meet and bond with teammates and learn a new system going from a 3- 4 alignment to a 4- 3, Littleton instead had Zoom video calls. There were new faces at all three levels of the defense and the expectation to produce instantly.
Littleton instead looked lost early. He never reached the level of play he had with the Rams, but had started to come around in terms of production and comfort level when COVID19 hit him personally. He missed Weeks 10 and 11 against the Chiefs and Chargers, then had to regain his stamina in more of a part- time role.
Against Denver Sunday, Littleton was back to playing every snap. Littleton, in fact played every snap in the last two games and had back- to- back games of nine tackles — his highest number of the season.
“I don’t know if I can actually pinpoint an exact date or time, but I can say as the season progressed I felt more and more comfortable through the year,” Littleton said. “Earlier in the season, I felt like a chicken with its head cut off.”
The Raiders are tied to Littleton contractually in such a way that he couldn’t be released without severe salary cap implications. And coach Jon Gruden realizes one year in a new system with no off- season wasn’t exactly a fair test.
“I think the greatness in Littleton has yet to be seen as a Raider,” Gruden said. “He’s got an everydown linebacking skill set. I think he can be a leader of our defense. I think he can be a centerpiece here.”
Linebacker Nicholas Morrow, scheduled for free agency, did some of his best work when Littleton was sidelined with the virus. He had a better season than Littleton. Morrow wants to return to the Raiders if possible but will count Littleton a lifetime friend if he doesn’t.
“I think Cory is one of the best people I’ve ever been around in this league,” Morrow said. “He’s not one of those dudes that’s going to make an excuse. We all know Cory is a unique talent and whatever may happen, I think he is one of the best players I’ve ever seen and he’s someone who’s accountable for his own actions. Next year, I’m sure he’ll have a better year by his standards.”
Littleton plans on staying in the Las Vegas area and getting in as much work as possible. Job 1 is to solve his sudden problem with tackling, something he did very well with the Rams. He thinks it had something to with thinking rather than reacting, in part because of his familiarity with the system and his new teammates.
“I missed 10 times as many tackles as I did the previous year, which is uncharacteristic and something that can’t happen to a good linebacker,” Littleton said.
The Raiders are in the process of hiring a defensive coordinator, and it will likely be a new face with Rod Marinelli remaining to coach the defensive line. Whoever it is, Littleton, if the pandemic allows, hopes to get plenty of offseason time to learn everything he can about the system and how he fits in.
It would benefit not only Littleton, but everyone else in the unit.
“I promise you, it would be a 10 times difference than what we showed if we did have an off- season together,” Littleton said. “I had to grow and learn a lot of things that I would have been able to do in April and all the way to June. You miss out on a lot in a way that when we hit game time, that’s crunch time, you should already have it all down and we missed a lot.”
Whenever the 2021 season begins, Littleton plans on showing up in a way that wasn’t possible in 2020. Maybe he’ll never live up to his contract, but Littleton’s integrity and willingness to accept responsibility indicates there’s at least a chance he could still pay off for the Raiders.