Nakobe Dean made a big decision last week based on instinct, not a grand revelation. The former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker signed a three-year, $36 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders during his first foray into free agency.
“It ended up being a gut feeling, like most decisions I make,” Dean said Thursday at Aria, where he was playing in a Celebrity Poker Tour event. “I prayed on it a little bit and then it was just my gut feeling that told me to come here and I went with it.”
Dean, 25, has 226 tackles in 47 games over four NFL seasons. He won a Super Bowl with the Eagles and an national championship at Georgia. Now he hopes to bring that winning pedigree to a Raiders franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2003.
“It would be great to build something here,” he said. “I feel like most of the places I’ve been, we were working toward something special and when it comes down to it, it’s all about winning games and winning championships. That’s my goal here.”
Dean signed on the same day his former Georgia teammate Quay Walker also joined the Raiders. Another Bulldogs alum, cornerback Eric Stokes, re-signed with Las Vegas hours earlier. Dean previously played with Georgia teammates Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Nolan Smith and Kelee Ringo in Philadelphia.
“It’s amazing,” Dean said of the reunions. “I was able to do it with the Eagles with a couple of my Georgia guys there, too. Being able to play with another couple of them is great. I know how amazing it was there, and I’m pretty sure it will be the same here.”
Walker echoed that sentiment in his introductory news conference last week. “It’s just another opportunity for us to go out there and to showcase our talent and just to bring a type of energy, intensity to the defense and just add to it,” he said. “Just bring a whole lot of grit that the other guys can feed up on, and hopefully they can match our energy, which I know they will. I know (defensive coordinator) Rob (Leonard) is going to use us in the right way and set us up for success.”
Dean also noted the unexpected twist involving star pass rusher Maxx Crosby, who was briefly traded to the Baltimore Ravens before the deal was rescinded the day after Dean signed. “It would be great to be able to play with a guy like that and wreak some havoc on defense,” Dean said.
Dean spends much of his offseason in Las Vegas, making the move feel natural. “I stay in Vegas for much of the offseason anyway, so it’s cool to have the opportunity to play for the Raiders,” he said.
On the poker table, his luck didn’t hold. He was eliminated early after going all-in short stacked with a suited A-5 that lost to newly signed Green Bay Packers tight end Skyy Moore’s pair of queens. Gambling influencer Vegas Matt was knocked out on the same hand. It was Dean’s first time playing poker, but his football instincts are far sharper.
