The Oakland Raiders are coming into a very important season and as the draft approaches, the team could trade quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin for extra picks, while Reggie McKenzie and head coach Dennis Allen are looking for players to breakout in 2014 and rookies Mychal Rivera, Latavius Murray and Brice Butler all could be in the mix for that.
The Raiders have gone 4-12 over the past two seasons and if improvement doesn't come in 2014, it could be the jobs of McKenzie and Allen on the line, as owner Mark David realized the team had a tough financial situation to dig out of. Over the past two years McKenzie has brought the salary camp under control and this offseason the team signed a ton of talent after coming in with a record amount of cap space. Davis realized that McKenzie had to break down the roster before he could build it up and now the team has the chance to make at least a slight jump heading into next season.
The team still has over $10 million in cap space heading into the draft and that should give them enough money to sign players, but they also could look to add more picks as the draft gets closer. The team traded for Matt Flynn last season and Matt Schaub this year and that is why they have just six draft picks heading into the 2014 event in May. The team can use those six picks wisely, or they could make a deal with one of the quarterbacks for more picks, as they have the number five pick in the first round along with picks in the second round, third round and fourth round, while they also have two in the seventh and they are missing their sixth and fifth round picks after making the previous deals.
Johnny Manziel, Sammy Watkins, Blake Bortles and Jadeveon Clowney are all options for the Raiders at the number five pick and they could make things interesting if they want to trade that as well. The team may avoid a quarterback since they traded for Schaub and they could look at some other positions, including wide receiver, running back and cornerback. The team signed Austin Howard, Justin Tuck, James Jones, Tarrell Brown and Kevin Boothe and with a deep roster of talent in this draft, the team could add some more on offense.
The team is hoping for some breakout players on their roster right now, including three rookies in Mychal Rivera, Brice Butler and Latavius Murray, who all were drafted last season. The second year players could step up into bigger roles, including Rivera, who has the makeup to be a top tight end and he had 38 catches last season and four touchdowns and along with Nick Kasa he could give Schaub some legit weapons. Murray was injured last season, but after Darren McFadden came back and Rashad Jennings signed with the Giants, Murray could step up into a bigger role. Butler had a limited role last season, but with Jones coming in, Butler could also get a leg up on things.