It's that very special time of on the NFL calendar when we're not quite at free agency, but definitely out of free agency ideas. These next two weeks are going to be filled with the most unhinged predictions of the entire season, mostly because people are bored of clicking on the same headlines that have been repurposed over and over again since the Super Bowl ended.
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And if you want to laugh at each and every one of those ideas, don't let me get in the way. You could even laugh at the idea that you're about to be presented, if you wanted to. (You probably will.) HOWEVER, you could also take the idea very seriously – what else is there to do right now? – and find how it immediately becomes at least a slightly interesting thought exercise on how the Raiders are going to build their team for next year and beyond.
USA Today – who aren't normally in the NFL prediction biz, but everyone's gotta eat – published their version of the Arbitrary Free Agent Listicle this week, and they snuck in a Raiders prediction that's, at the very least, entertaining to read two paragraphs about: signing edge rusher Haason Reddick.
Haasson Reddick to the Raiders is certainly one idea that exists out there
"Unfortunately for Reddick, most of the news he made during the 2024 season came from his lengthy holdout. Reddick tallied just one sack in 10 games after skipping part of the season, snapping a streak of four straight seasons with at least 11 sacks. Reddick desires a Pro Bowl-level salary. The Raiders have over $92 million in salary cap space via Over the Cap. Las Vegas has enough money to splurge on a pass rusher to pair with Maxx Crosby."
Reddick was one of the premier edge rushers in football from 2020-2023, and I'm not going to hold one bad season that was full of weird contract stuff against him quite yet. All that being said, I imagine the Raiders don't exactly feel a huge need to spend a lot of their money at edge rusher, and meeting Reddick at his presumptive asking price would be ... curious. It'd certainly be a show of good faith for Crosby, but so would, you know, getting a competent quarterback in the building for the first time in a decade. But at least the Raiders have options!