Las Vegas Raiders 2020 Free Agency Primer

Jeff Spiegel
Jeff Spiegel
3 Min Read
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

It’s officially optimism season in Las Vegas, and with the start of free agency just days away, it’s time to think positively. A year ago, the Raiders entered free agency with some massive needs throughout their roster — and just a few hours later, they had splashed enough cash to make your head spin.

Within two days of free agency opening, the Raiders had signed Trent Brown (four years, $66 million), Tyrell Williams (four years, $44 million), Lamarcus Joyner (four years, $42 million) and Jonathan Hankins (two years, $8.5 million). Of course, this doesn’t even include the trade to acquire Antonio Brown, either.

The point? The Raiders aren’t a team afraid to go after what they want in free agency — and with more holes on the roster this year still unfilled, the rumors are already swirling about where they might spend some money. So, over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to be putting out a series of pieces highlighting various positions the Raiders might look to fill along with some available players who might be a good fit.

The good news, of course, is that the Raiders don’t need to be in the market for every position on the roster — and so we’ll focus on cornerbacks, linebackers, defensive linemen, wide receivers and — yes — quarterbacks.

As it currently stands, the Raiders are 11th in the league in cap space according to Spotrac with around $57.5 million in space after releasing linebacker Tahir Whitehead.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is the team’s need to set aside some of that space for future contracts. That said, a bit of good news is that the Raiders don’t have any real difference-makers whose contracts expire after next season — the best player in this boat might be Jonathan Hankins, who was signed for a pretty reasonable deal a year ago.

So, before we go, how about some of the rumors to whet your appetite…

Information

Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a small newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Raiders and Dodgers since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNewswire.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Raider This one is an easy one for me: Charles Woodson. When the Raiders drafted him, there was nothing to dislike about the guy — he was exciting and he was freaking good. Unfortunately, of course, he left after eight seasons — but when he returned in 2013 it was one of the better Raider moments of my lifetime. At that point, I didn't care how washed he was (and he wasn't!) — I just liked having him back in the silver and black. Obviously Tim Brown is another guy that was easy to love, but Woodson is the all-timer for me. As far as current, I'm still a believer in Derek Carr and think he's going to figure this all out. Favorite Raider Moment I think I'll go with the two weeks leading up to the 2001 Super Bowl. As a kid, I remember getting the newspaper every morning to read what they were talking about, clipping out the articles to keep for later. It was obviously far more exciting than the Super Bowl itself, but I'll never forget those moments of hope leading up to the Super Bowl. I referenced it above, but second to that was probably the return of Charles Woodson in 2013 — I just loved the guy, and never dreamed he'd actually come back.