If you're still looking for a reason to be excited about the Raiders' upcoming season, I'm not sure what to tell you. Just getting rid of Gardner Minshew would have been reason alone to celebrate, but the Raiders actually rose to the occasion this offseason and made a flurry of moves that, on paper at least, make them look like they'll be a tough out in the AFC West.
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There's no shortage of big names attached to the team this year – whether it's Tom Brady, Pete Carroll, Geno Smith, Ashton Jeanty, or – I guess – Chip Kelly, anywhere you look in Las Vegas' organization, things are vastly improved. In fact, some would say that the Raiders restored credibility this offseason. And by some, I mean Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, who had nothing but good things to say about the team in his latest listicle of NFL questions heading into training camp.
Albert Breer's Raiders analysis is the perfect appetizer for training camp
"This whole offseason has been about restoring credibility, and I think that’s been accomplished. From bringing Tom Wagner, Egon Durban and Michael Meldman in with Tom Brady as limited partners, to hiring Pete Carroll and John Spytek, to paying Chip Kelly $6 million per year to leave Ohio State, to acquiring Geno Smith, this feels like it’s a whole different operation from what it was a year ago. We’ll see how quickly it translates to the field, with a roster that needed a lot of help when Carroll and Spytek arrived."
I forgot about all the other limited partners who did not win seven Super Bowls, but you get my point. And if you ignore the entire second part of his blurb, it sure does read like a team whose arrow is pointed up. I'm sure there's going to be some stretch of the Raiders' season that features one or two bad losses and a whole bunch of anxiety, but right now it's summer, and right now the Raiders have restored credibility. If that's not winning the offseason, I don't know what is.