How Raiders can build Malik Willis dream team & explode into AFC contention

We can almost be certain that the Las Vegas Raiders will draft Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick this April, but what if they solved their most glaring issue in free agency with Malik Willis instead?

That's right. Malik Willis. The Titans' 2022 third-round pick who barely saw the field before Tennessee traded him to Green Bay for a measly seventh-round selection in last year's draft.

Ever since he landed with the Packers, though, Willis has valmorphanized into a different player altogether. Developing in that Cheesehead QB factory sure does seem to have its benefits.

Willis has completed 70 of 89 passes for 972 yards, six TDs and zero INTs for Green Bay. That's a 134.6 passer rating. Oh, and he can run the rock, too, with another 261 yards and three scores on 42 carries in that span.

You're telling me that's not the stuff of a high-end NFL starter? Follow me down the rabbit hole of what it might mean for Willis to land in Sin City.

Malik Willis would free up Raiders to cash in on Fernando Mendoza bidding frenzy

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky had a seemingly outlandish forecast for Willis in free agency. When you step back and think about it, though, Orlovsky had to have meant this was Willis' value on a two-year contract.

So let's play armchair GM here for a moment. Fire up the ol' OverTheCap.com simulator. Restructure Maxx Crosby's contract to free up another $21.5 million in salary cap room for 2026.

We'll go on the more aggressive side of Orlovsky's price tag projection. Give Willis a two-year contract worth $47 million. That'd still leave Las Vegas with $88 million in cap space to play with.

Think about who money could buy with that kind of dough. Name any top free agent at any position. The Raiders could nab a couple of those fellas and then some. Oh, did I mention Vegas would still have $142.3 million in projected cap space in 2027?

Just some ideas for what $88 million could get the Raiders on the open market, accounting only for approximate Year 1 cap hits (via Spotrac).

• Colts WR Alec Pierce — $20.2 million
• Jaguars LB Devin Lloyd — $20.1 million
• Seahawks CB Riq Woolen — $15.7 million
• Colts RT Braden Smith — $13.5 million
• Lions DT D.J. Reader — $3.8 million
• Total cost: $73.3 million

Oh, and circling back to Crosby for this next bit...

RELATED: Raiders break fans' hearts by passing on Day 1 QB in three-round mock draft

Raiders can score massive No. 1 pick bounty to build around Malik Willis & convince Maxx Crosby to stay

Now that Oregon quarterback Dante Moore threw up all over himself in a head-to-head duel with Mendoza in the Peach Bowl and is returning to school, there's only one QB worthy of the No. 1 overall pick.

Imagine if the Raiders enter the draft with Willis in the fold. Every single needy team will be offering a king's ransom to Las Vegas for the rights to pick Mendoza.

There's all sorts of buzz that Crosby could ask for a trade at long last. Maybe he doesn't want to wait on a rookie QB to have the light flick on for him at the professional level. Crosby has endured enough rebuilding.

Willis represents a dynamic, dual-threat playmaker who can help the Raiders win now. As good as Mendoza looks in college, how will his quirky personality play in that Las Vegas locker room if the team starts losing yet again? Not well, I'd surmise.

If GM John Spytek comes to Crosby with this plan, the latter won't want out. He'll want to see that thing through.

As for what the No. 1 overall pick could yield, and who the Raiders could draft with it, let's walk through one scenario that passed through PFF's mock draft simulator:

• Browns receive: No. 1 overall pick (Fernando Mendoza)
• Raiders receive: Picks 6, 24 & 39, plus 2027 1st- and 2nd-round picks

Here's who I nabbed for Vegas with those 2026 selections from Cleveland, plus their own picks across the first three rounds:

• Round 1, Pick 6 — Arvell Reese, LB/EDGE, Ohio State
• Round 1, Pick 24 — Olaivavega Ioane, OL, Penn State
• Round 2, Pick 36 — A.J. Haulcy, S, LSU
• Round 2, Pick 39 — Kamari Ramsey, NB, USC
• Round 3, Pick 67 — Jake Slaughter, C, Florida

What the Raiders' Malik Willis dream team/shadow team looks like in 2026

To stick with Willis first, his explosiveness as a ball-carrier on its own would open up all kinds of running lanes for Ashton Jeanty. Willis has shown excellent intermediate and downfield accuracy, too, which fits so well with the prospective new WR1 Pierce and, wait, what's his name? Oh yeah. Brock Bowers.

Remember: Malik Willis is a stone-cold stud.

Oh yeah. By the way, check out that new-look offensive line. A left-to-right starting five of Kolton Miller, Olaivavega Ioane, Jake Slaughter, Jackson Powers-Johnson, and Braden Smith.

Two rookies could be viewed as a little dicey on paper. However, Ioane is as dominant of a pure guard prospect as I've seen in quite some time. He had a 90.9 true pass set pass blocking PFF grade this season, allowing just four pressures and zero QB hits or sacks. Over the last two seasons, Slaughter has let up a total of 10 pressures, one QB hit, and two sacks on 824 pass blocking snaps.

As for the defense, Arvell Reese would plug in as a versatile dynamo on the front seven. He can play the edge on occasion opposite Crosby, but begin more as a starting linebacker alongside Jags superstar Devin Lloyd in the heart of the Raiders' D.

Finally, we have free safety A.J. Haulcy out of LSU who can also lay the wood versus the run, and a pure slot cornerback in USC's Kamari Ramsey who logged a 3.2% missed tackle rate in 2025. Put those guys back in the secondary with Riq Woolen and his sub-4.3 speed screaming around the gridiron, and Las Vegas has a formidable defensive backfield all of a sudden.

You feel me, Raider Nation? Hitching the wagon to Mendoza is a fine strategy. that'd create even more room for free-agent spending. Just feels a bit riskier than rolling with Willis under center, doesn't it?