Emmanuel Lamur to Oakland is best for all parties

The Oakland Raiders announced the signing of former Vikings linebacker Emmanuel Lamur Wednesday.

Emmanuel Lamur has played the past two seasons in Minnesota after spending his first three seasons in Cincinnati. He and Mike Zimmer have spent several seasons together, both in Cincinnati and Minnesota, so it is a little bit surprising to see he him leave. However, his most productive season as a pro was in 2014 and has been relegated to a special teams role in Minnesota.

An undrafted free agent, Lamur was on the Cincinnati practice squad to start 2012 and by the end of 2012 was starting for a playoff game for Mike Zimmer’s defense. After sitting our 2013 on IR, Lamur had his best season as a pro in 2014, starting 13 games.

If a starting role is something he is striving for, as most NFL players are, it probably is best for both parties if Lamur looks for other opportunities elsewhere. With Barr, Kendricks and 2017 rookie Ben Gedeon making the vast majority of starts at LB for the Vikings, there just wasn’t a lot of room for Lamur to squeeze out any playing time besides the special teams work he has gotten.

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Depth at any position in the NFL is important, linebacker is no different, but the Vikings are not losing an irreplaceable player here and as mentioned earlier, it seems to be mutually beneficial. The Vikings should be able to fill this role with a draft pick or veteran minimum type player and Lamur is going to be able to join an Oakland team with new leadership in place and most likely, starting job openings. Jon Gruden returns to the Raiders this season and when there is a coaching change, there are competitions for starting positions.