The Oakland Raiders have been very aggressive to begin the offseason and their acquisitions are beginning to show a trend.
Only a couple of days removed from trading two middle round picks to the Pittsburgh Steelers to acquire All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown, the Raiders are supplementing their first deal with some solid free agent deals. Obviously nothing is official until later today (Wednesday), but the Raiders have already agreed to sign Trent Brown, Lamarcus Joyner, and Johnathan Hankins to free agent deals.
The trade for Brown preceded the free agent signings, and could also be a huge reason behind the moves Oakland are making. As I mentioned in a previous article, the Raiders now have a window to ‘win-now’ and should take advantage of that opportunity. They needed to address the offensive line and add talent to the defense desperately. What have they done so far?
Making Trent Brown the highest paid offensive tackle in the league shores up a huge area of weakness for the Raiders. Last year’s combination of Kolton Miller and Brandon Parker conceded 26 sacks, that won’t cut it. With Antonio Brown now on the team, the Raiders have an excellent threat at wide receiver, but that won’t matter if Carr is on his back at the end of every play. Bottom line, Trent Brown makes the Raiders offensive line better.
The Raiders are clearly attempting to get better in pass protection to get the most out of Derek Carr and Brown. Trading Kelechi Osemele hinders that plan a bit, but Denzelle Good is capable of starting at the right guard spot, allowing Gabe Jackson to slide over to the left side. Assuming Tom Cable doesn’t ruin everyone, this offensive line can be pretty good.
On Wednesday, Gruden and company continued to add to the wideout group, bringing in Los Angeles Chargers speedster Tyrell Williams. Williams is a big-bodied receiver who can take the lid off the defense, giving Carr another explosive weapon in the passing game.
With Hankins and Joyner, the Raiders were simply keeping or adding talent to a depleted unit. Hankins played well for the Raiders, starting every contest after joining following the Week 1 loss to the Rams. He will compete for time with Justin Ellis, Eddie Vanderdoes, Maurice Hurst, and P.J. Hall at the defensive tackle position.
With Joyner, the beauty is that he is capable of playing slot corner as well as safety. This means he can rotate with Karl Joseph and Erik Harris but also play corner in nickel sets, lining up with Gareon Conley and Daryl Worley (and whoever else they add in the draft). Joyner brings versatility and speed to a lackluster defense and makes them much, much better.
Moral of the story, the Raiders have a window to ‘win now’ and seem to be trying to take full advantage without mortgaging the future. They are making smart moves, not necessarily overpaying for players like in some previous years, and are trying to provide the fans in Oakland with a product that at the very least will be exciting to watch.
Call it the Mike Mayock effect. Call it whatever you like. It is reassuring to see the Raiders trying to rebuild quickly to give Oakland one last day in the sun before leaving for Sin City. Now if they can add a linebacker or defensive end things will really start to look promising. Ezekiel Ansah on line one.