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.
3 reasons the Las Vegas Raiders are clearly rebuilding
More than a player away
Technically speaking, unless you’re a team that has the starting spots and every position locked up, you are going to rebuild in one form or another. Usually, the retool term we spoke of earlier is reserved for a team that just needs a player or two to fill a needed hole that may have been a weak spot in years prior.
For example, the Denver Broncos have been “a quarterback away” for the last six years now, and it seems they still may be with how Russell Wilson played in year one.
Undoubtedly the Raiders’ biggest turnover came at the quarterback position after Jimmy Garoppolo was brought in to replace Derek Carr. One position that was a big need this year was wide receiver, because, before free agency, Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow were the only players who caught a pass in 2022 that are still under contract.
A few positions here and there, yes, they are/were a player away from it being solidified. But when you have four or five positions like that and even four or five positions that need 2+ solid players each, that’s the type of overhaul that falls in the rebuild category.
The defense is single handedly the biggest need for the Raiders this offseason and lucky for them this NFL Draft, one of which they have double digit selections in, is heavy with the defensive talent through all seven rounds. Hopefully they will find plenty of star and above average talent to fill all the holes on defense.
Building around young talent is the key to success, but when the prior regime missed on their young talent, the building will inevitably have to be redone yet again.
3 reasons the Las Vegas Raiders are clearly rebuilding
Star Turnover
One could argue the turnover the Raiders have had to some of their star players is not indicative of what you’d see from a team that is in a full-blown rebuild. The Derek Carr situation was something that unfortunately was a long time coming and the current trade of tight end Darren Waller may have had some personal implications along with the business reasoning behind it.
In both scenarios the biggest part of the split relationship was the money it saved Las Vegas.
Between both players, the Raiders save $51 million in cap space for two players they would no longer be tied to two years down the road. Say what you want about what each player brought to the organization, but the fact of the matter is that the Raiders and Carr relationship needed to part ways and Darren Waller was an injury-prone pass catcher on the back side of his prime who missed almost as many games over the last two season as he played in.
With all that being said, you don’t move on from two players that were a staple of your franchise if you aren’t trying to turn a new leaf in some capacity and cash in on the rewards that come with it. The freed-up cap space will give them the ability to go out and be aggressive in free agency and the 3rd round pick they got for Darren Waller gives them another chance to either hit on a top-100 player or trade it for something else that can help the team.
Either way you cut it though, they sacrificed the old to rebuild the new.
3 reasons the Las Vegas Raiders are clearly rebuilding
Future is not now
The Raiders’ biggest question is what the future of their quarterback position is going to be. While I can’t tell you what the answer to that question is, I can tell you with almost certainty that Jimmy Garoppolo is not that answer.
Hopefully, he can be some semblance of an answer for the short term, but this front office is going to have to find their franchise quarterback through the draft. With the short leash that many believe Dave Zeigler and Josh McDaniels have (I am not one of them), they are going to have to find said savior in either this year’s or next year’s NFL Draft.
You obviously can never say never. For all we know Jimmy G will stroll into Sin Cty and take the Raiders on a Super Bowl run for the ages. In all likelihood though, this team is two years away from competing for a Lombardi at best.
I do believe they are a good football team with good high end talent. They need to knock this draft out of the park though if they are going to prove that they are moving in a forward position.
Success year in and year out is what Mark Davis was looking for when he brought in these two guys to run the Raiders. That doesn’t just happen overnight though. These things take time and with time comes the ability to construct and build things the right way.
Some people don’t want to think that the Raiders are “starting over” in regards to trying to be competitive again. Yes, we are in a rebuild at the moment, but that doesn’t have to be a negative thing.
Raiders 2023 NFL Draft: Draft target from each 2022 top-25 program
The Las Vegas Raiders hold four of the first 100 selections in the 2023 NFL Draft, and here is one prospect from each top-25 school they should target.
If they are going to go and compete not only within their division, but in the AFC as a whole, they are going to have to upgrade in a whole lot of ways, which I believe they are on their way to doing. It’s just going to take some rebuilding to bring back this once-storied franchise to greatness again.
For more Raiders news go check out the Raider Take Podcast and follow our YouTube Channel