3 free agents Raiders were wise to avoid

2. Calvin Ridley, WR, Tennessee Titans

Deal: Four-years, $92 million

The Raiders need some wide receiver help, but not that badly. Per PFF, Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, and Tre Tucker rank 21st, 52nd, and 70th, respectively, out of all qualified wide receivers from 2023. That's not exactly the 2001 Rams, but it's not terrible. Given that Adams is still a certified WR1 and Meyers is only going into the second year of a three year, $33 million contract that he signed, the Raiders' wide receiver core feels pretty set for the time being.

That doesn't mean they can't go grab one of the better wide receiver prospects from this year's draft class, but that's a little easier to rationalize than spending almost 100 million dollars on a guy who's about to turn 30 is. Bringing Ridley to Vegas would have made life easier for Minshew/Aidan O'Connell in the short term, but there are already more than enough pass-catching options on that team for a young, developing QB.

Given how many other positions needed upgrades, passing on Ridley wasn't too surprising.

3. Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

Deal: Three-years, $38 million

Given how involved the Raiders were in this offseason's running back shuffle, it made sense to see them be involved – at least reportedly – in the mix for Barkley.

It made even more sense when you compared Barkley's stats to Josh Jacobs', who left for a big payday with the Packers.

With the signings of Abdullah and former Vikings RB Alexander Mattison, it seems like the Raiders have a different idea of how they're going to use their running backs this season – mainly, that fans are going to hear the word 'committee' thrown around a lot in the next year. Barkley's case looks a lot like Ridley's does: just because the Raiders could do it, doesn't mean they should have. Their offensive line, while not terrible, can't hang with the Eagles'.

It would have brought a lot of fireworks to the start of Pierce's time as the non-interim head coach, but building an offense around the back-nine of both Barkley and Adams' career would have been a shortsighted approach.