ESPN thinks the Raiders should make one last big roster move before training camp, and it could either help or hurt them
The Las Vegas Raiders are in a position where they don’t really have to add anyone right now.
ESPN recently floated the idea that the Las Vegas Raiders should sign free agent wide receiver Stefon Diggs before the 2026 season.
“Sign wide receiver Stefon Diggs: Diggs was the dependable No. 1 target who helped the Bills’ Josh Allen significantly improve. Then he was the dependable No. 1 target who helped the Patriots’ Drake Maye significantly improve. So why wait for Fernando Mendoza‘s second season to get him a dependable No. 1 target who can help him significantly improve? The Las Vegas receiver depth chart is severely lacking, and Diggs was still good enough to finish second among wideouts last season in ESPN Analytics’ receiver score. This one seems like a no-brainer.” – Aaron Schatz, ESPN
On paper, adding a proven pass-catcher sounds appealing. But when you look at where this roster actually stands and what this coaching staff has communicated about its current group, Diggs is far from a necessity.
The Raiders are in Year 1 of a genuine rebuild. This is the season where they figure out who they are. Las Vegas should be doubling its win total from last season, which shouldn’t be hard, so there’s no reason to make a splashy move that inches the team closer to contention. To be frank, the Raiders aren’t very close to competing for a Super Bowl yet. If this were the second or third year of the rebuild, bringing in a veteran like Diggs would make more sense. Right now, it doesn’t fit the timeline.
Las Vegas already has its core wide receiver group in place
What’s evident about this coaching staff is that they love the guys already on the roster. The Raiders have two second-year players who didn’t get a real chance to show what they could do last season on a bad team running a bad offense. There’s also free agent acquisition Jalen Nailor, who can be the deep threat Las Vegas has needed for the last few years. And then there’s Tre Tucker, who brings gadget-type versatility and can play in the slot when needed.
That’s four wide receivers the Raiders feel good about. The last two spots on the roster, assuming they keep six receivers, will likely go to some combination of Dareke Young, Malik Benson, or a UDFA or veteran at the back end of the roster. The picture is already fairly clear.
Diggs isn’t the player he used to be
Stefon Diggs is still serviceable. We saw that with both the Houston Texans and the New England Patriots. He finished with barely 1,000 receiving yards and four touchdowns. But that doesn’t seem sustainable for him. He’s certainly not a player you go out and sign to be your No. 1 wide receiver at this point in his career. If the Raiders brought him in, he would be a veteran body and nothing more. That’s not a bad thing in the right context, but it’s not what Las Vegas needs right now.
The Raiders know who their core four receivers are, and the coaching staff has shown confidence in developing the young talent already in the building. Would it be nice to have Diggs? Sure. But this is not a move Las Vegas should go out of its way to make, especially when the entire point of 2026 is evaluating the foundation of the roster. There’s a time and place for adding veteran reinforcements. For the Raiders, that time isn’t now.