The Oakland Raiders are going to be a team to watch during the offseason as they have several issues they need to address. After hiring Jon Gruden to become the team’s head coach, the Raiders will be tasked with adding the requisite talent needed to compete with the rest of the league.
Oakland will likely look to free agency to address some of their roster holes and have already been linked to high-profile players like Le’Veon Bell. However, according to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report, the NFL may have asked the Raiders to sign a certain player as a favor:
Here is the interesting part. I’m told the league office told the Raiders (paraphrasing): we looked out for you on the Rooney rule, now help us by signing Kaepernick, and helping to end the collusion case. 4/
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) January 23, 2018
The NFL and its owners have been under fire as Colin Kaepernick has yet to be signed by a team after his anthem protests made headlines. Kaepernick is the best backup free agent quarterback on the market, yet saw several other players signed before him during the 2017 NFL season.
This report, if true, would rock the league to its core given how much scrutiny the Raiders faced when they almost immediately came to an agreement with Gruden after Jack Del Rio’s dismissal. While there is not much evidence to support this claim, it will be interesting to see how the league and Oakland respond to the rumor.
