The Oakland Raiders are heading into a very important offseason for the franchise and questions about the future of the roster and Terrelle Pryor have come up, as trade options to the Philadelphia Eagles or Buffalo Bills are possible, while names like Lamarr Houston and Jared Veldheer are priorities to re-sign and now Sidney Rice could also be a target as a free agent.
The Raiders went 4-12 last season and have a number of important free agents, including Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings at running back, but no players are more important to retain than Houston and Veldheer for general manger Reggie McKenzie. Houston and Veldheer have proven to be very important players for the team and with the salary cap going up and the Raiders have over $60 million in projected cap space, they have room to extend both and if one contract doesn't work out, the team also has the franchise tag in their back pocket.
What happens with McFadden and Pryor will be very interesting, as the Raiders have a top five pick and could go after a quarterback and if that happens, a trade could go down. The Eagles and Bills are two teams identified as options for Pryor as a backup, as EJ Manuel is still developing and Chip Kelly has shown a fondness for Pryor in the past, including trying to recruit him while in college. The Eagles have picks to move and likely will lose Michael Vick to free agency and Pryor could step in as the new backup quarterback.
McFadden is coming off of another injury plagued season and many felt it was guaranteed that he would be leaving as a free agent, but now ESPN.com reports that the Raiders have started talking to the running back about a contract. The team has dealt with injuries and failed expectations regarding McFadden, but all that could play into them keeping him, as he could get less than expected on the open market and if he wants to remain with the Raiders, it could happen at the right price. McFadden wants to stay in Oakland and since getting drafted in 2008 he has yet to play in a full season and that could give teams some caution in going after him as a free agent. He has never played in over 13 games in any season and has missed nearly half of the past 41 games for the team, missing 19 and that could end up keeping him in the Bay area.
ESPN.com is reporting that Sidney Rice could be a fit with the raiders after his release from the Seattle Seahawks, as the team needs some more bodies at wide receiver and he could fit alongside players like Rod Streater and Andre Holmes. Names like Eric Decker and Hakeem Nicks could be options as well since the team has money to spend and that also will go to Houston, who would get some attention on the free agent market. The team also could go after Justin Tuck, Michael Bennett or Greg Hardy if things don't work out, as those names will be getting attention as well.
