The Las Vegas Raiders are coming off of a rough season but that doesn't mean there isn't talent worth keeping on the roster. The team is set to have several starters hit free agency and the defense could get hit in a major way.
The Raiders got ahead of safety Isaiah Pola-Mao and gave him a new contract but there are a lot of players who still need new deals. A problem for the team is that they have a new front office and coaching staff in place so it could become difficult to figure out who deserves to get paid and who they should let walk.
General manager John Spytek recently spoke at the NFL Scouting Combine and gave some insight into what the plan is for the Raiders' free agents.
"I wouldn't say we know the 100% plan, we are working on that right now with Tom Delaney and the scouting department," Spytek said during a press conference. "We played the Raiders this year so I know the roster well. I think we got kind of a loose plan in place, we're still spending a ton of time with Pete [Carroll] and the coaches to make sure everything lines up and we got spots for them. We still got two and a half weeks to figure that stuff out."
It doesn't sound like Spytek truly knows what he's going to do yet. What will happen is that defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is returning. He should have a very good gauge of what defensive free agents should be brought back. That's likely why Pola-Mao already got a new deal. Who the Raiders end up bringing back should be pretty telling.