Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

To tag or not to tag? That is the question NFL general managers are pondering at this point in the offseason. For Reggie McKenzie it could be as simple as taking one look at the current cap constraints and deciding there’s just no need to commit any cash before the next cap cleansing is complete.

As it stands the Raiders have yet to make any moves to free up cap space and the season of tagging begins Monday.

The Raiders have plenty of decision to make regarding who they’ll try to retain and who will be allowed to walk. Players like Brandon Myers, Philip Wheeler, Desmond Bryant, Matt Shaughnessy and Shane Lechler to name a few are all slated to hit the open market and all are expected to receive serious interest from other teams.

Most of those men have tag figures that are plain obscene given the fact the number is based on the average salary of the top five earners at the respective positions. Put it this way, if McKenzie slapped the franchise tag on Wheeler, a man who they’re sure to try and secure with a long-term deal, then he could expect a pay day in the neighborhood of $9-million for one season.

Wheeler is good…but not that good.

Now one man whose tag number wouldn’t kill McKenzie and who actually is in the top 5 at his position in the NFL is Lechler. Even though he’s coming off a very subpar season there is reason to believe the Raiders might retain his services for another year at the reasonable rate of just under $3-million while continuing to groom Marquette King who impressed during the preseason in 2012.

However $3-million is still a pretty big figure for a punter even if he is statistically the best to ever play the position.

McKenzie could easily let Lechler walk happy to unearth another undrafted gem like King or even to grab a punter off the NFL scrapheap at a discounted rate. That the Raiders kept King around by placing him on IR strongly indicates he’s got a future of some sorts. You’ll rarely see a team do that with a punter but the Raiders clearly wanted to make sure no other team could sign King.

So be prepared for plenty of contract drama in the coming weeks. There’s just no way of knowing how the franchise tag will turn in 2013.

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

If you’re having a hard time keeping track of who is coming and going from the Raiders roster these days don’t beat yourself up over it. Turns out Shane Lechler is having that same problem. Even the All-Pro punter can’t keep with all of the new coworkers that are coming through the locker room these days.

Reggie McKenzie might not call this a rebuild but guys like Lechler know one when they see one. Or at least he knows a new face when he sees it and lately he’s seen plenty of them.

“It’s crazy the turnover we’ve had this year.”

Crazy indeed. Crazy because you’d expect a lot of the moves that have been made to have been done during the offseason. Instead, McKenzie’s non-rebuild is going full speed ahead through the regular season. Injuries have played a hand in that but for the most part we’re talking about additions and subtractions based on performance, lack thereof or just plain house cleaning.

Eventually all the dust will settle and a new version of the Raiders will be unveiled. For now Lechler should just get used to carrying around a game day program in order to learn the names of all the new faces walking around the locker room. Or he could just subscribe to JBB to get his daily updates on all things Raiders.

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Turns out Shane Lechler’s prolonged absence from training camp is the result of his continued recovery from offseason knee surgery. That explains why Marquette King has gotten extensive work as Lechler’s fill in. It also explains why it wasn’t until today that Super Shane resumed his kicking activities.

King’s mega-leg has drawn plenty of attention during camp. So much so that there’s plenty of reason to believe he could get a look from another team once it comes time to cut down the Raider roster. There are even those that have gone as far as to claim King could get a spot on practice squad if he clears waivers.

Should Dennis Allen deem Lechler in need of an insurance policy then we’ll know all is not well with the surgically repaired knee. According to Vic Tafur, Lechler went under the knife just before camp. How it affects his performance should be seen soon enough. No official word on when Lechler will resume full kicking responsibilities for the silver and black. Don’t count on seeing Shane kick Friday against Arizona though. Tafur’s report indicates that Lechler will eventually kick in a preseason game so there isn’t a definite timetable of any kind.