They may not be saying it out loud, but with the current state of the roster, the Las Vegas Raiders are clearly in a rebuild.
The long-awaited free agency period came and the Las Vegas Raiders’ two biggest moves were signing former 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and trading away tight end Darren Waller. Free agency is far from over obviously, but the majority of their signings thus far have been on the offensive side of the ball.
The two biggest names outside of Garoppolo are two of his former teammates in New England, Jakobi Meyers and Phillip Dorsett.
The team has yet to make any big splashes on the defensive side of the ball. They have brought in a few solid starters like safety Marcus Epps and linebacker Robert Spillane, but not anyone that really gets the blood flowing when it comes to big names.
As we speak, beat writer Vincent Bonsignore is reporting the Raiders are finalizing a deal with former Tampa Bay Buccaneer tight end O.J. Howard.
After the benching and eventual release of 9-year starter Derek Carr, it was clear that this new regime was going to bring in their guys and potentially overhaul the roster to set Las Vegas up for the long run. Some may call it a “retool”, which would indicate not as much work is needed as your traditional rebuild.
But who is to say they aren’t rebuilding from where the previous regime had them. Many will argue that they were just fine and dandy when they were sitting at 10-7 and making their first playoff appearance since 2016. I wholeheartedly believe that run was more of luck than roster sustainability.
Regardless of how you view the past, we are in the here and now. Right now the Raiders are going to have a new QB1 at the helm and many moving parts on the defensive side of the ball. That’s why I’m here to give you the top 3 reasons the Raiders are clearly rebuilding, and why it’s not as bad as it sounds.