Oakland Raiders Ultimate Offseason Primer

Free Agency

Spend five minutes on #RaidersTwitter and you’ll find that parts of the fanbase believe that the Raiders will sign DeSean Jackson, Calais Campbell, Dont’a Hightower, A.J. Bouye and Tony Jefferson.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but it’d be a surprise if the Raiders signed even one of these guys.

Yes, the Raiders have over $43 million in current cap space, but that isn’t what they’ll have to spend.

As we just went over, they have to extend Carr, which depending on his signing bonus, could take a large chunk out of that available money. They also could (and should) extend Gabe Jackson this offseason. For argument’s sake, let’s say those two take up only $20 million in cap room this offseason with their respective signing bonuses.

Then they have to re-sign their own guys. Even if the Raiders bring back just 10 of their 18 free agents at an average of $1.5 million per player, that’s $15 million.

So just like that, $35M of that $43M is gone.

The draft will cost $6M or so, which eats up just about everything that was left of the cap.

Now, if the Raiders cut Sean Smith, Dan Williams, Reggie Nelson, restructure David Amerson and make a few smaller contract cuts, they could free up a decent amount of money. Maybe $20 million or more, if  they do all of the above.

And if Carr and Gabe’s signing bonuses are spread out completely over future seasons, they’ll have more to work with. Perhaps upwards of $25 million or $30 million, if they can manage to do everything that was just mentioned.

But then you have to consider the fact the Khalil Mack will need to get paid next offseason, as will Amari Cooper. So McKenzie likely won’t get roped into signing any big free agent deals this offseason in order to save some money for extensions.

So with that being said, expect to see free agent signings like the ones we’ve seen in the past — the Dan Williams’ and Malcolm Smith’s of the world. Players in their mid 20’s looking for a bigger role elsewhere.

To throw some names out there — A.J. Klein, Bradley McDougald, Jahleel Addae, Tyrunn Walker, Kevin Minter and so on. Quality young players who perhaps weren’t full-time starters, with the hope that they can continue to develop into their prime years with the Raiders.

Even players like Micah Hyde, Datone Jones and John Cyprien could cost more than the Raiders will be able/willing to spend.

So please temper your expectations and don’t bust out the pitchforks if McKenzie doesn’t put together a free agent haul like the previous offseason.