The Las Vegas Raiders haven't exactly been the beacon of consistency over the last few years. Ever since their relocation to the state of Nevada, they've endured five different general managers, and they're on their sixth head coach now in as many seasons.
More obvious names like Maxx Crosby and Kolton Miller have been given their flowers for enduring plenty of hard times with the Silver and Black over the years, but a player like Dylan Parham has been far less heralded, despite going through it all with them.
Parham was the first draft pick of the Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler era, taken in the third round of the 2022 draft out of Memphis, and has started practically every game since. But he hit unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career this week, and he quickly landed with the New York Jets.
Longtime Raiders starting guard Dylan Parham
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport was the first to break this news on Wednesday, just minutes before the 2026 NFL league year began. Parham is darting for the Raiders' AFC foe for a two-year, $20 million contract.
Over four seasons with the Silver and Black, Parham played in 64 of a possible 68 games, amassing 3,803 offensive snaps in that span. He was a stalwart in Las Vegas, despite not much consistency around him, outside of MIller.
Experienced guards like Parham are coveted on the open market, and so it is no surprise to see the Raiders, who are undergoing a paradigm shift in yet another regime change, unwilling to pay the price that other teams would have paid for him.
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Las Vegas must have other options in mind on the open market, or they feel good about their chances to land a difference-maker at the position in the upcoming draft. Armed with ample salary cap space and several premier picks, the Raiders could land a Day 1 starter.
Perhaps John Spytek and Klint Kubiak also feel good about in-house options like Caleb Rogers, who showed promise as a rookie, or Jordan Meredith, who has experience playing both guard and center and was just extended a tender as a restricted free agent.
Parham has been a key aprt of the Raiders' offensive line over the years, and so it'll be weird to see him in another uniform. He is going the John Simpson route, a former Las Vegas guard heading to the Jets on a nice free agency contract. History repeats itself.