Las Vegas Raiders 3 worst contracts heading into 2022
By Alex Perl
Las Vegas Raiders 3 worst contracts heading into 2022
Kenyan Drake, RB
In the 12 games Drake appeared in for the 2021 season, before a season-ending injury, he wasn’t exactly a bad signing. For a large chunk of time, one could argue he was the best running back on this Raiders team during the season; but his contract – well that is another story.
In a league that is pass dominant, the Raiders decided to award the running back with a two-year, $14.5m contract. The logic behind signing a running back who clearly was going to be a backup was that he would be a jack-of-all trades type back who would do damage as a receiving back. A role that starting running back Josh Jacobs had not thrived in up to this point.
However, this deal was still a bit rich for a backup running back, especially when the Raiders had much more pressing needs, and could have used the funds on an actual receiver, in the form of a wide receiver.
The new regime in what has become customary fashion in their short time, have already restructured the contract freeing up cap space. But the issue here is that Drake was never really needed in the first place. The signing signified how stale and past their prime the philosophies of former head coach Jon Gruden had become. The days of relying on a running back, let alone two was something of a much distant past.
The injury did not help Drake’s bloated contract, but even when he was on the field, he provided fireworks in a meager fashion for most of the season.
With the Raiders bringing in bruising back Brandon Bolden who also is a solid dual-threat back, it truly is hard to believe that Drake is still even on this roster, when considering his contract. With just one season left on the deal, maybe the Raiders let it play out. The player is fine, the contract, however, is not so much.