The Oakland Raiders are looking to rebound from their second straight 4-12 season and as Reggie McKenzie scouts quarterbacks Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles for the NFL draft, the team is dealing with a lawsuit coming from their Raiders cheerleaders regarding unfair employment practices.
According to ESPN.com, McKenzie is looking for quarterback options as the lawsuit comes down against the team, as they had Matt McGloin and Terrelle Pryor last season and now they are looking for a new franchise quarterback. The team signed Trent Edwards and now likely will ditch either McGloin or Pryor heading towards the draft, as the team is in position in the top five to take someone like Manziel, Bridgewater or Bortles, as the St. Louis Rams probably won't take a quarterback at the number two spot.
The Raiders lawsuit deals with employment issues and according to ESPN.com, both current cheerleaders and former "Raiderettes" are suing the team and it's due to the fact that they allege the team keeps pay until the end of the season and forces them to pay more for expenses than needed. According to the report, the cheerleaders are paid just over $1,000 per season and they are also given strict rules that they can be fined for from the team. The leaders allege that the employment contract with the team has a number of illegal practices and this is yet another headache for the franchise.
The Raiders have a chance to turn things around this offseason, as they have kept their head coach to give some structure and continuity and now McKenzie has over $60 million in projected cap space to work with after dealing with a number of bad contracts over the years. The team likely will let Darren McFadden go and with a high amount of cap space, they could go after someone like Ben Tate or Hakeem Nicks and they also could try to get Michael Vick at quarterback for a year or two as they develop someone.
Oakland went just 4-12 for the second straight season and the team finished near the bottom of the league in passing yards allowed per game after making a number of signings at corner in the offseason. The team now is in good position in the draft and free agency to improve in 2014.
