OAKLAND, Calif. — SaQwan Edwards, who led the Lobos in passes defensed and interceptions last year, has signed a free agent contract with the Oakland Raiders. That signing ended a flurry of off-season NFL activity for the Lobos as he is now the fourth Lobo in the NFL, joining Byron Bell of the Tennessee Titans, Glover Quin of the Detroit Lions and Dillon Farrell of the San Francisco 49ers.
Edwards was signed as one of six players from the Raiders’ rookie mini-camp. The six signed along with Edwards were Mitch Bell, OG, Louisiana Tech; Travell Dixon, CB, Washington; Gary Wilkins, DE, Furman; Austin Willis, WR, Emporia State; and Michael Dyer, RB, Louisville. He is one of 90 players that will participate in OTAs next week, and he is one of 10 corners in camp.
For Quin, his news came from the NFL itself, as NFL.com named him as No. 88 in their list of the Top 100 Players of 2015. The league released a video about Quin, which is viewable here: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-top100-2015/0ap3000000492592/Top-100-Players-of-2015-No-88-Glover-Quin.
In the video, several players from around the NFL, including Sam Barrington, Jarvis Landre and Patrick Chung talk about how Quin is quickly becoming one of the best of the NFL. Last year, his second with the Lions and sixth in the NFL overall, he registered 73 tackles, seven interceptions and 10 other passes defensed. He led the NFL with seven picks, and his 17 total passes defended was good for a tie for 15th in the league.
Also making news was Byron Bell who signed a free agent offer with the Tennessee Titans for one year and $1.5 million. He played right tackle for three season with Carolina before moving to left tackle last season. He is projected to play right tackle with Tennessee. Bell’s former Lobo teammate Darryl Johnson also signed a free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills prior to the draft after spending time in the camp of the San Diego Chargers in 2014.
The only Lobo in the NFL that didn’t make a ton of news for himself was Dillon Farrell, but his team, the 49ers did. San Francisco added a black alternate uniform for the 2015 season.