Jared Veldheer, Lamarr Houston leave Oakland as expected
By Chase Ruttig
Dec 30, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders tackle Jared Veldheer (68) during the third quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
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It was reported heading into March 11’s afternoon start to 2014 NFL Free Agency that the Oakland Raiders would be losing top expiring talents Jared Veldheer to the Arizona Cardinals and Lamarr Houston to the Chicago Bears by multiple sources.
As soon as the window opened to 2014 Free Agency at 4:00 p.m. those reports were confirmed as Veldheer bolted to Arizona while Houston left to replace Michael Bennett in Chicago.
According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, Veldheer signed a five-year deal that could be worth $37.5 million. Rapoport also reported that Houston signed a five-year deal worth $35 million with $15 million guaranteed.
Jared Veldheer’s mom tweeted that the Raiders never offered Veldheer a larger contract than their new offensive line signing Rodger Saffold (for more on Saffold check out the rest of the site.)
Veldheer's mom: "@mommagolfer: A fair offer from Raiders never happened. Nothing near the Saffold deal. We will always ❤️ Raider Nation."
— Scott Bair (@ScottBairNFL) March 11, 2014
Per source: The #Raiders best offer to Veldheer was 5 years, #30 million with (brace yourself) just $10 million guaranteed. Didn't take less
— Scott Bair (@ScottBairNFL) March 11, 2014
As of writing there was no confirmation on what Houston’s offer from the Raiders amounted to, but both players bolting for winners is a bad sign for the Raiders rebuilding future. Something the team hoped was set for the 2014 season as it looks like the Raiders may once again be sellers in free agency despite over $60 million in cap space. Fans will continue to mourn the exodus of Houston and Veldheer and blame general manager Reggie McKenzie, but despite whatever further reports come out the damage is already done. What is next for the Raiders front office is bringing in the talent two replace what were considered to be Oakland’s best offensive/defensive assets in the draft/free agency. For now even with all of the Raiders cap space the future looks grim.