The Las Vegas Raiders dramatically improved their organization this offseason. Minority owner Tom Brady helped with the additions of head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek, who, in turn, acquired players like Geno Smith and Ashton Jeanty, as well as coaches like Chip Kelly.
This overhaul was necessary, as the AFC West sported three playoff teams last season, all of whom won 10 games or more. While the Chiefs will be tough to take down, Las Vegas needed to gain ground on both the Broncos and Chargers this offseason to be competitive in 2025.
Fortunately, the Broncos made an interesting decision in the first round of the draft when they selected Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron. While Barron is certainly a good player, Denver bypassed several great prospects at key positions of need to select him.
Broncos rookie CB Jahdae Barron remains unsigned
If this potential blunder was not bad enough, Barron is starting off his tenure in Denver on the wrong foot. While he did attend the team's OTAs and minicamp, he is one of just two first-round rookies who have not signed their contract yet.
Raiders fans know all too well what can happen when a contract dispute is not sorted out immediately, and things have been surprisingly quiet on this front coming out of Broncos camp. By contrast, Jeanty seemingly could not wait to sign his rookie deal in Las Vegas.
Broncos second-round pick RJ Harvey has not signed his contract either, but he is more the rule than the exception. Raiders second-rounder Jack Bech is yet to reach a deal either, as only the first two picks of the second round have signed their contracts, and the other 30 are unsigned.
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Barron was certainly on the Raiders' radar at one point in the pre-draft process, as cornerback is still thought to be a position of need for the Silver and Black. However, the sixth overall pick felt like too much capital to wager on a slot corner.
While it is likely that the two sides are just ironing out the fine details of certain components like guaranteed money or the size of the signing bonus, things could always cascade into something more worrisome as the season approaches.
Denver's rookies report to training camp earlier than most other NFL franchises, so the clock is ticking for these two sides to get a deal done.