The Las Vegas Raiders have seemingly nailed the first portion of the 2026 NFL offseason. Not only did they lock up the No. 1 pick in April's draft in the final game of the regular season, but they seem to have all but officially hired Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as their head coach.
With the first overall pick, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza should be the obvious choice for the Raiders' braintrust, which consists mainly of John Spytek and Tom Brady. Pairing him with Kubiak should be the first step in the franchise's return to NFL relevance.
But it's going to take more than just Mendoza, Kubiak, and a handful of pieces like Maxx Crosby, Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty and Kolton Miller. They'll need to nail the rest of the 2026 NFL Draft and spend wisely in free agency.
NFL salary cap increase is good news for Raiders and John Spytek
Luckily for Spytek and the Las Vegas front office, the NFL just gave them an early offseason gift. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that the league is projected to increase its salary cap from $279.2 million to somewhere in the range of $301.2-$305.7 million.
"The NFL informed clubs today it is projecting a 2026 salary cap in the range of $301.2 million to $305.7 million per club, per source," Pelissero wrote. "That would represent another significant jump from this year’s $279.2 million cap number, and nearly $100M than the $208.2M cap in 2022."
This is an increase of $26.5 million, which is massive. That essentially gives the Raiders the ability to extend or sign another superstar-level player or bring on a handful of solid starters. For a team with so many holes to fill, it cannot be overstated how beneficial that will be.
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Of course, every other team in the NFL will get the same boost, but Las Vegas has the second-most cap space in the league this coming offseason, according to Over The Cap. Whereas most teams are hanging in the $15-$40 million range, the Raiders have $91.5 million. That is a ton of salary cap space.
Las Vegas will be able to outbid other franchises for great players on the open market like Tyler Linderbaum, Braden Smith, Rashid Shaheed and more, simply because they have the money to do so, and now they have even more of a cushion to spend big.
The Raiders shouldn't be careless in free agency, but they also have a cash spending floor that they need to hit this offseason. With even more salary cap space to utilize, Las Vegas should have no issues hitting that and no issues with improving its roster.