3 trades Raiders should make after freeing up cap space

Earlier in the 2023 offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders signed quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a three-year, $67.5 million contract.

Already, the team has restructured Garoppolo's deal. Tuesday afternoon, it was announced that Las Vegas had created an additional $17 million in cap space by restructuring his contract.

The Raiders were estimated to be $7 million over the cap prior to this move, so they'll have some relief going forward.

What if Las Vegas wanted to make a trade now that they have some additional room to work with? There are three players, in particular, that make sense for the team to make a deal for.

1. Ryan Bates, G, Bills

One of the areas the Raiders could use more talent is on the interior of their offensive line. Both starters, Dylan Parham and Greg Van Roten, are coming off subpar seasons and don't represent an ideal starting duo at guard.

The Buffalo Bills have a couple of guards who competed for one starting job this year, and rookie O'Cyrus Torrence beat out veteran Ryan Bates, which the team recently announced. Bates is also coming off a subpar year, but in 2021 he filled in admirably and showed he had some starting qualities.

Bates was especially proficient in pass blocking, which is a plus, considering the injury history of Garoppolo. Bates' contract runs through the 2025 season and carries a $5.4 million cap hit in '24 and '25 after this year's $2.6 million hit. The Bills may want to shop the veteran guard instead of keeping a reserve on such a lengthy deal.