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Defensive end Greg Spires signed with the Raiders on Tuesday and practiced with his new teammates, a person in the front office confirmed.

Spires spent six seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, three with the New England Patriots and one with the Cleveland Browns before joining the Raiders. He played on a Patriots team that featured current Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan as one of its linebackers coaches.

Spires, 33, is expected to compete with Jay Richardson, Trevor Scott and Kalimba Edwards for playing time at right defensive end. He has 39½ career sacks. The Raiders signed Spires as another potential replacement for Chris Clemons, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency earlier this season.

"I want to go out on my terms," Spires told the Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press. "Oh yeah, I'm hungry. They've tweaked the defense a little bit. That's why I'm here."

In other news, the Raiders also signed defensive tackle Tranell Morant and released offensive tackle Adam Spieker. Also, the Raiders confirmed that their mandatory minicamp will be held June 3-5. Contact Steve Corkran at scorkran@bayareanewsgroup.com.

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