The Oakland Raiders are coming into the offseason with a huge amount of cap space and the team is expected it use it in free agency, as this class is deep with free agent talent like Julius Thomas, Ndamukong Suh, DeMarco Murray, Randall Cobb, DeAngelo Williams, Terrance Knighton, Michael Crabtree, Jordan Cameron, Ben Tate, Mark Ingram and Torrey Smith could be targets.
The Raiders are coming off of a 3-13 season and they have a new head coach in Jack Del Rio, who takes over for Dennis Allen and Tony Sparano. Allen won eight games in the previous two seasons and that is why Mark Davis decided to make a change and now he is hoping that Del Rio can be a long term solution. The Raiders were one of the worst offensive teams in the league last season and they also ranked in the bottom half of the league in yards allowed per game.
Del Rio comes over after working as defensive coordinator for the Broncos and he had success turning around that unit last season. The Raiders need help on both sides of the ball and they are projected to have over $50 million in cap space to spend. Reggie McKenzie had the most cap space in the league last year, but he smartly did not go crazy, as this group of players is deeper than last years. The team added Justin Tuck, James Jones and Maurice Jones-Drew last year and now they may target some of the bigger named players.
According to NFL.com, Julius Thomas is expected to be a main target for the Raiders, as he is likely to leave the Broncos this offseason. The Broncos have to sign back Demaryius Thomas and they also have a number of significant players hitting the market in Terrance Knighton, Rahim Moore, Orlando Franklin and Wes Welker along with Thomas and that means some of those players are not likely to return. Thomas has had 24 touchdown catches over the last two seasons and Pro Football Talk also reports that the Browns and the Jaguars are potential targets for Thomas.
The Raiders are likely to add on the offensive side of things, as they have a quarterback they want to build around in Derek Carr. The team has done a solid job with Carr, Latavius Murray, Mychal Rivera and Khalil Mack in the draft and now they could look to add more. According to Bill Williamson at ESPN.com, the Raiders are planning to go after Randall Cobb in free agency this offseason, as he is asking for $9 million per season and could leave the Packers.
Cobb is a target, while Jeremy Maclin is also on the market along with Torrey Smith and they are potential options. The defensive side of the ball could get attention as well, as the Raiders have the money to compete to sign players like Suh, Terrance Knighton or Byron Maxwell. Suh is expected to stay with the Lions, but he is asking for a ton of money and could get wooed to Oakland. Knighting is expected to be a target since he played for Del Rio and he could be a backup option if Suh stays in Detroit. DeMarco Murray is also a target, while NFL.com reports that Matt Schaub could be released, while Darren McFadden is not expected to be retained.