The Las Vegas Raiders entered the 2025 NFL Draft with several major needs. Luckily, new general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll were able to put their heads together and solve several of the team's problems, including the one at wide receiver.
Before the draft, Las Vegas' wideout room was rather thin, but thanks to the selections of TCU's Jack Bech, Tennessee's Dont'e Thornton Jr. and Montana State's Tommy Mellott, the team is seemingly set at the position now and for the future.
While both Thornton and Mellott have signed their rookie deals already and will be good to go for training camp on Thursday, the same cannot be said about Bech. He and 29 other second-round picks are still unsigned, and the Raiders need to move fast before things get ugly.
Raiders must sign rookie wide receiver Jack Bech before training camp
On Saturday, the Los Angeles Chargers became the first team to begin their 2025 training camp, and second-round wide receiver Tre Harris still had not signed his contract. That meant that he could not attend practices, and he was officially staging a holdout.
Las Vegas cannot afford to let things go this far with Bech, who the team selected with the No. 58 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Raiders begin training camp on Thursday, July 17, which gives them only a few days to remedy this situation before they enter Chargers territory.
Otherwise, the team may be without their top receiver from the draft, and these reps are paramount for rookies. Carroll is also putting a premium on players competing this offseason, and his absence would rob him of that ability and send a poor message to his teammates.
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This league-wide issue began when the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns both signed their second-round picks to fully guaranteed deals. Wide receiver Jayden Higgins and linebacker Carson Schwesinger are stilll the only two second-rounders to be signed because of this contract dispute.
Something has to give, and hopefully, one of the two sides can concede before the real work starts later this week. Rookies always fall behind when they are injured during their first offseason, but Bech and his camp can sign at any point, and he will be available to practice.
Luckily, the Raiders have a slew of offensive pieces to work with, so the offense should be just fine with players like Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty and Jakobi Meyers. However, Raider Nation was excited about seeing Bech on the field, and unless something changes, he won't be by Thursday.