The 2026 NFL offseason will be critical for the Las Vegas Raiders. First-year general manager got a raw deal being paired with Pete Carroll in his first go-around, but this time, he'll be fully synced with the team's new head coach, and the duo can hit the ground running. That starts in free agency.
Spytek isn't keen on spending big on the open market, as he admittedly wants to build through the draft and loves his picks. But the Raiders have $110 million in salary cap space available, and they'll have $118 million when they inevitably cut Geno Smith.
That number could climb to nearly $148 million if they win the Christian Wilkins grievance. It would be a shame to defer that money when they could use it now to supplement what already looks like a strong young core and a likely No. 1 pick rookie quarterback.
We took the liberty of using Spotrac's salary cap manager to create a dream free agency haul for the Raiders using accurate market values and targeting positions of need. If Las Vegas could pull this off, it might just turn things around.
Raiders must do everything to get this dream haul for 2026 free agency
Las Vegas' first order of business should be deciding which of its own free agents it wants to retain. After a brutal 3-14 campaign during the 2025 NFL season, the list is short, but it should look something like this:
Eric Stokes -- 3 years, $24 million (extension)
Jordan Meredith -- 1 year, $3.7 million (original round tender)
Thomas Booker IV -- 1 year, $3.7 million (original round tender)
Lonnie Johnson Jr. -- 1 year, $1.3 million (veteran minimum)
Jamal Adams -- 1 year, $1.3 million (veteran minimum)
Charles Snowden -- 1 year, $1.2 million (exclusive rights free agent)
Tristin McCollum -- 1 year, $1.2 million (restricted free agent minimum)
The Raiders entered this portion of the free agency exercise with $110.2 million to spend. They'll still have $98.7 million to spend after this. Now, for the fun part: Let's go fishing for talent from around the league.
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Free agency should be the time that Las Vegas looks to shore up its offensive line with more surefire veteran players. That venture should start and end with Tyler Linderbaum, but there are a handful of other players in the trenches that the Raiders should have no issue forking out cash for.
Baltimore Ravens C Tyler Linderbaum -- 4 years, $71 million ($17.8 million/year)
Indianapolis Colts RT Braden Smith -- 3 years, $41 million ($13.7 million/year)
Jacksonville Jaguars LB Devin Lloyd -- 3 years, $60 million ($20 million/year)
New England Patriots DE K'Lavon Chaisson -- 3 years, $30 million ($10 million/year)
Denver Broncos DT John Franklin-Myers -- 2 years, $15 million ($7.5 million/year)
Atlanta Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier -- 2 years, $7 million ($3.5 million/year)
Miami Dolphins CB Rasul Douglas -- 1 year, $4 million
Pittsburgh Steelers S Chuck Clark -- 1 year, $1.5 million
After signing these eight players, the Raiders would still have $29.6 million left to spend. Obviously, Las Vegas will need to sign plenty more players to fill out a 90-man offseason roster, but retaining the aforementioned players, while adding these players into the mix, would be quite the talent influx.
Cash spending in these contracts was also evenly distributed throughout the years of the deal for the sake of being succinct, but there are plenty of ways for Spytek and the front office to do some gymnastics and allow for even more financial flexibility.
In this exercise, we were able to keep a starting cornerback and a starting interior offensive lineman in the building, as well as keep several depth pieces at defensive tackle, linebacker and safety. On the open market, however, we went buck wild.
The Raiders would get arguably the most valuable free agent in Linderbaum, who is still 25 years old, the best available linebacker in Lloyd, and very good starters at right tackle, defensive end and defensive tackle with Smith, Chaisson and Franklin-Myers, respectively.
Douglas and Clark are both experienced pieces in the secondary who are as solid as they come, especially at that price, and Allgeier would be an excellent complement to Jeanty for the measly price of $3.5 million per year, as he's thrived alongside Bijan Robinson with the Atlanta Falcons for years.
Adding a new head coach and coaching staff to the mix will certainly complicate this equation, and there is no telling what may happen between now and March around the league. But as of now, this would be a dream haul for the Raiders, addressing needs and not overspending or being unrealistic.