The off-ball linebacker market had some big-time names on it this year from Joe Schobert, Blake Martinez, Christian Kirksey to Nik Kwiatkowski. But no name was bigger than Cory Littleton. The Las Vegas Raiders certainly thought so.

The Raiders are also responsible for another contract on the aforementioned list. They also agreed to terms with Kwiatkowski, according to NFL media . Oakland signed him from Chicago for $7 million per season on the same timeline as Littleton. It's unsurprising to see the position addressed so aggressively in free agency after it was filled by Nicholas Morrow and Tahir Whitehead following the suspension of Vontaze Burfict last offseason.

The two parties reportedly agreed to a three year, $36 million deal that has an average annual value of $12 million and is the richest LB contract shelled out this year.

Littleton represents one of the highest upside players in this year's free agency class, regardless of position. He was an undrafted free agent out of Washington in 2016, where he played in a part-time on-ball and part-time off-ball role and generally struggled to lock down a consistent starting spot. Given his length and cornering ability, Littleton projected as a special-teamer and subpackage rush linebacker at the next level.

And that's what he was, at first. Littleton took 72 percent of the Los Angeles Rams’ special teams snaps in 2016 and 73 percent in 2017 while seeing no more than a quarter of the snaps on defense. When the Rams eventually lost Alec Ogletree to free agency, Littleton was given an opportunity to compete for the starting MIKE role and took it to great success.

What made Littleton so productive were the very same traits that initially projected him to EDGE play in the NFL: length and change of direction. Littleton is a clean mover in the open field with a good degree of linear explosiveness due to his stride length, but particularly effective transitions in his zone drops. With huge arms for an off-ball linebacker (33-plus inches), Littleton occupies a lot of space underneath throwing lanes and is an exciting drop linebacker. Watch as Littleton first identifies the motion and changes the coverage then takes a Tampa 2 drop — similar to a Cover 2 defense that Jon Gruden will be familiar with — underneath George Kittle's route and plays through the receiver to the football.

With Littleton only playing the position a couple of years, his ceiling is through the roof. He's only going to get a quicker trigger against the run and better instincts for route distribution as an underneath defender. In Las Vegas, where the Raiders were gashed by underneath receivers like tight ends and running back, Littleton is a critical addition. Even if he isn't the dense, sure tackling thumper that an old-school front office like Mike Mayock's might be known for, he's what the modern NFL demands.

The Raiders' linebackers room is rebuilt and, accordingly, they have plenty of flexibility with their first two draft selections to address critical needs on the defense or potentially attack the top of the wide receiver class. The most dire need has been filled with big-ticket free agents, and the future of the position is set in Las Vegas.