Raiders free agency predictions: Trying to predict who Las Vegas will spend their league-leading cap space on
The Raiders have a ton of options on the table.
On Wednesday, March 11, we will see the Las Vegas Raiders start to build the new era of this team. New head coach Klint Kubiak and general manager John Spytek will have around $120 million in cap space to use for free agency, but need to leave about $25-$30 million for the incoming draft class.
Still, they have around $90 million to spend on building an entirely new team. Now, it’s impossible to predict what they will do, especially when the Raiders have so many needs on the roster and so much money to use. But we will do our best to predict their moves. And, hey, we may get one or two right out of like, 15?
So, let’s have some fun with this and predict how busy Spytek will be. Every prediction will be based on their market value, as measured by their AAV.
Predicting the Raiders’ free agency spending
Players the Raiders will try to retain:
- Eric Stokes, CB – $8 mil AAV
- Thomas Booker, EDGE – $1 mil AAV
- Malcolm Koonce, EDGE – $10 mil AAV
- Daniel Carlson, K – $2 mil AAV
- Kyu Blu Kelly, CB – $1 mil AAV
- Ian Thomas, TE – $1 mil AAV
The Las Vegas Raiders will have to bring back some cheap players who play premium positions. There are way too many needs on this team to bring in entirely new players on new deals, especially when you could just bring in some of the decent to good players that were already on the roster.
In this case, Stokes will be the CB1, with the expectation that they draft at least one cornerback, maybe two. They are also expecting a few of their young guys to make a jump, like Darien Porter and Decamerion Richardson. Koonce will find his way back because of the edge market, where they will likely get one cheap option, maybe a guy like Boye Mafe. Booker is a restricted free agent who will make his way back to Vegas. Blu could be an ERFA.
Raiders’ new free agent acquisitions:
- Tyler Linderbaum, C, Baltimore Ravens – $19 mil AAV
- Alec Ingold, FB, Miami Dolphins – $4 mil AAV
- Chris Paul, OG, Washington Commanders – $6 mil AAV
- Rachaad White, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $4 mil AAV
- Rashid Shaheed, WR, Seattle Seahawks – $5 mil AAV
- Boye Mafe, EDGE, Seattle Seahawks – $12 mil AAV
- NaKobe Dean, LB, Philadelphia Eagles – $8 mil AAV
- Greg Gaines, DT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $2 mil AAV
- Jeff Okudah, CB, Minnesota Vikings – $1 mil AAV
- Matt Hennessey, C, San Francisco 49ers – $2 mil AAV
Some of these are based on previous relationships with someone on the coaching staff, like Kubiak or a coordinator, or with Spytek. Most of these probably won’t happen, because, as we said, it’s impossible to guess this. However, we know these positions will be similar to how they target free agents. We also know, based on reports, that guys like Linderbaum are a top target for the Raiders.
The Raiders want a fullback, as Kubiak’s offense has used one dating back to every stop he has had, pretty much. They will need a new guard, at least one to battle for a starting spot. We also know, based on what Kubiak has said, they will target a backup running back as a 1-2 punch, and White has a previous relationship with Spytek. The Raiders definitely need a linebacker, and Dean has a ton of potential. However, they don’t need too many because they have a few young guys on their team, and they may be ready to start playing more like Cody Lindenberg and Tommy Eichenberg.
Shaheed is the biggest name I haven’t mentioned yet, where we know Kubiak will want to go after him immediately, since he had him with the New Orleans Saints and the Seahawks. Mafe is a good, cheap edge rusher who could help be the bridge guy since Vegas will likely draft one, and perhaps the rest of the names listed are mostly depth guys.
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