The Las Vegas Raiders needed to make some serious changes before the 2025 NFL season if they even wanted to have a fighting chance in the AFC West. Luckily, this came in the form of experienced coach Pete Carroll, veteran quarterback Geno Smith and touted new general manager John Spytek.
While the offseason has been marked largely by successes, upgrades, and getting rid of the stink from previous regimes, the new brass in Las Vegas did make some puzzling moves this offseason, especially on the offensive line.
Now that the 53-man roster is seemingly set, for now, and preseason roster battles are in the rearview mirror, it is easy to look back on the Raiders' weirdest move of the offseason and question why it ever happened in the first place.
Raiders' weird signing of Alex Cappa is already backfiring
Days before the 2025 NFL free agency period began, Las Vegas went out and signed veteran guard Alex Cappa to a two-year, $11 million contract. The move seemingly came out of nowhere, and it struck an interesting chord in Raider Nation.
The Raiders' offensive line was surprisingly stout in 2024 despite the team's general lack of success, so it felt like a waste of resources to give a lucrative multi-year deal to a player clearly on the decline in their NFL career.
However, the team paid him starter-level money, and it begged the question of who he would supplant. While many thought he would challenge Dylan Parham, or more likely, Jordan Meredith, for a starting guard spot, he ended up in a battle with Jackson Powers-Johnson, of all players.
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Meredith moved over to center, and Parham is locked in at left guard, which left Powers-Johnson and Cappa unexpectedly competing for the starting right guard spot. However, Cappa spent most of the preseason dealing with a rib injury, and the team announced that Powers-Johnson will be the starter.
Now, it looks like the team reshuffled its entire offensive line to give Cappa a chance to compete for a starting role, but they could not find one for him. So, if he does not get on the field this season, and Raider Nation hopes he does not, then that $11 million is essentially wasted.
Of course, having a strong insurance policy is important, and both Spytek and Tom Brady trust Cappa from their Super Bowl-winning days together with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, everything about Cappa and his addition has been weird from the jump, and unless things change dramatically, they will continue to be perceived that way.