Raiders’ coach: Tre’von Moehrig ‘most talented safety in football’

After putting together a bounce-back performance last season, Las Vegas Raiders safety Tre’von Moehrig figures to be a key piece of the Raiders’ defense this season. He’s entering a pivotal fourth season — which also is a contract year — making Moehrig a tenured veteran in a secondary that is very young as a whole.

There’s a lot riding on the TCU product’s shoulders heading into the 2024 campaign, and he drew some strong reviews from Las Vegas’ senior defensive assistant Rob Ryan.

“You know, Tre’von is the most talented safety in football,” Ryan said after the Raiders’ minicamp practice on June 12. “Now he’s just got to bring it and he’s getting better each time. Now he’s got a number change. Man is he good now.”

Obviously, the comment about switching digits was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek remark from the coach, but Moehrig is going back to his college number (7) after sporting 25 during the first three years of his professional career.

The former Horned Frog was a two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection and won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2020. So, maybe there is something to changing numbers as he has a good track record with the No 7. Look good, feel good, play good, right?

Ryan continued to say the “sky’s the limit for” for Moehrig and he knows how talented the safety is. After all, the coach should know the player well as he joined the Silver and Black’s staff in 2022, Moerhig’s second year in the league. Clearly, those two have a strong relationship, and the latter credits the former for his development.

“It means a lot, man,” Moehrig replied when asked about Ryan calling him the most talented safety in football. “Coach Rob, we have a good time in that room. He always helps us out, he’s always giving us knowledge whenever he can, always up front, but we always have a good time. He tells us stories back when he was coaching, and how we can implement it in our game, and he’s helped me out a ton. So, hearing that, it feels good.”

Ryan has been in the NFL for nearly a quarter century, so he certainly has plenty of wisdom to pass down.

As mentioned above, the four-year pro struggled during his second season and managed to turn it around last year with the guidance of the team’s senior defensive assistant. But the Raiders’ coaching staff as a whole played a factor in the rebound with the assumption being that Moehrig became more comfortable in year two playing for defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.

Seeing as Graham is still in the building, that provides even more optimism for Moehrig’s development since he’s heading into year three in this system.

“Just the consistency on what we do, our game plan, what we try to get done, our approach to things, it’s just more consistent,” the safety explained about how much of a difference it makes to have the same playbook. “So, having that consistency, it helps us a big amount and just our calls and how we operate just knowing the system, knowing our players.”

Ryan’s words and the 25-year-old’s play recently are music to Moehrig’s agent’s ears as it’s not necessarily a matter of if he’ll get paid, but more a matter of when. According to Over The Cap, the Raiders have just under $35 million of cap space available for this year and $24 million in 2025 to hand out some contract extensions this summer.

The safety projects to be one of the team’s top priorities when it comes to extending impending free agents, and he’ll be looking at a hefty raise. He’s currently scheduled to make $4.1 million this fall and a top-10 contract for his position comes in at $12 million per year while a top-five deal is $16 million.