Rashaan Melvin leaves Colts for Raiders in free agency

Former Indianapolis Colts cornerback Rashaan Melvin signed with theOakland Raiderson Friday.

Terms were not disclosed. It's a one-year, $6.5 million deal, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Melvin fills a big need for the Raiders, who released cornerbacks Sean Smith and David Amerson this offseason and lost cornerbackTJ Carrieto the Cleveland Browns in free agency.

Melvin is the third potential defensive starter added by the Raiders in the past two days, joining safety Marcus Gilchrist and linebacker Tahir Whitehead, who signed on Thursday.

Melvin, 28, went from being projected as the Colts' third cornerback at the start of training camp last season to replacing Vontae Davis as the No. 1 cornerback.

He started 10 games before suffering a season-ending hand injury against Tennessee in Week 12.

Melvin's aggressive style allowed former coach Chuck Pagano to shift from having left-right defensive assignments at cornerback to having Melvin shadow the opposing team's best receiver.

Melvin, who has played at least 10 games in a season only twice in his five years in the NFL, had three interceptions and 13 passes defended last season.

ESPN's Mike Wells contributed to this report.