Hunter Renfrow's potential is too high for the Raiders to ditch him now

Hunter Renfrow is entering the final two seasons of his contract with the Las Vegas Raiders, but his employment with the team is more uncertain now than ever before. Not long ago, he appeared to be a foundational piece for the future and a representation of everything positive about the Raiders.

But as players from the old regime departed earlier this year, and several new Wide Receivers arrived – it became obvious that anything could now happen with Renfrow.

I understand being noncommittal to Josh Jacobs. As much as I want the league’s rushing champion to stay forever, teams don’t over-invest in the running back position. It’s a pass-heavy league, the position is more prone to injuries, and the gap between good RBs and mediocre RBs is thin – oh and there’s a lot of them.

I also understand moving on from Darren Waller. Trust me, I wanted the top 3 Tight End in the league who was loved by the locker room and the fans to stay. And it infuriated me that they waited to trade him and took a worse offer than what was available in 2022. But I get the logic – they knew the Tight End pool in the draft would be good enough to justify spending those dollars elsewhere.

But I can’t for the life of me justify moving on from Hunter Renfrow as he enters his prime. His potential is too high for the Raiders to ditch him now. Even if the Raiders are building towards 2024 (the last year of his contract) and 2025, Renfrow needs to be part of that offense.

Two injuries last season combined with his salary increase for next season inherently makes him vulnerable to be pushed off the team. But that’s a short-term reaction, while the long-term benefit carries more weight. His best years haven’t happened yet.

He’s 27 years old. Historically, the best slot WRs in the league have played at a high level into their early-30s.