The Oakland Raiders have had two disappointing seasons in a row while gearing up for the 2014 offseason and some options for the team with their projected $60 million in cap space includes trading Terrelle Pryor to the Philadelphia Eagles while drafting a new quarterback like Johnny Manziel while spending big in free agency and some targets include names like Eric Decker, Ben Tate, Hakeem Nicks and Greg Hardy.
The Raiders have gone 4-12 the past two seasons under the leadership of Dennis Allen and general manager Reggie McKenzie and while that has been disappointing for owner Mark Davis, he understands that this team was not expected to be good. The Raiders have systematically broken down their roster and salary cap over the past two seasons with McKenzie at the helm and that was to get the team out of a terrible financial situation and now the time to strike is finally here, as ESPN.com projects that the team will have north of $60 million in cap space after getting rid of players like Michael Huff, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Matt Flynn.
Pro Football Talk reports that the team is going to look at a quarterback with their top five pick in names like Johnny Manziel and Teddy Bridgewater and that means Terrelle Pryor could be on his way out. The team could look to the free agent market as well with someone like Michael Vick and that could open up a trade to the Eagles, as Chip Kelly will need a backup for Nick Foles if Vick leaves and he has said in the past that he admired Pryor and recruited him when he was at Oregon before taking the Eagles job.
The Raiders ranked 25th in passing yards per game last season and that is one reason why they are on the market for a quarterback, as Matt McGloin and Pryor did not take hold of the starting job in 2013. The team has space to sign players and with Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings free agents, players like Knowshon Moreno and Ben Tate will be in the mix on the market, as Tate stepped up for Arian Foster and was great last season. Jennings led the Raiders in rushing and an injured McFadden is not coming back and that could lead the team to bring in someone like Tate or Maurice Jones-Drew.
The wideout position is deep this offseason on the free agent market and that is an area of weakness for the Raiders. Nicks and Decker are going to be two of the top names and they could leave the Giants and Broncos in the offseason. Nicks was injured over the past two years but has amazing hands and breakaway ability, while Decker is a better version of Wes Welker and showed that he can handle being a major part of an offense.
The Raiders have big decisions to make, but for the first time in years they have the financial flexibility to do it.
