The Oakland Raiders are coming into free agency with money to spend, but that doesn't mean they are keeping Lamarr Houston and Jared Veldheer, as The Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears have expressed interest and as that happens, Reggie McKenzie may look to sign Mark Sanchez or Michael Vick and he could look into a trade of Terrelle Pryor to the Eagles.
The Raiders have over $60 million in cap space coming into the offseason to lead the league and now they have the chance to cash in to try and turn around the team after two 4-12 seasons. According to ESPN.com, Veldheer is getting a strong look from the Arizona Cardinals, while Houston is getting attention from the Chicago Bears after they lost out on Michael Bennett and those two players are the most important to re-sign for the Raiders. The team wants to stay strong up front on both sides of the ball and keeping Houston is a priority for Reggie McKenzie, while Veldheer is an important part of the future on the offensive line, but at what price? The Cardinals appear to be strongly interested in signing Veldheer and could be willing to give him $10 million per season.
The Raiders have a number of free agents and they have to decide if losing Veldheer over a few bucks is worth it to sign someone like Eugene Monroe or Rodger Saffold. The team said that Veldheer was a priority heading into the offseason and ESPN.com is reporting that a deal for him could come between $7 million and $7.5 million and could get even higher if another team gets involved. The Raiders have money to spend and if they lose him, fans may be wondering what the plan is, as Saffold played at right tackle last season and if the Raiders end up signing him for the same money as Veldheer signs for, people will be questioning the logic.
The Raiders have other problems to look into as well, including the possibility of trading Terrelle Pryor and also signing a free agent quarterback in Michael Vick, or a soon to be free agent in Mark Sanchez. Everyone expects the Jets to release him and while the Raiders have Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin, neither did anything last season to fully take the starting job and a cheap deal and a change of scenery could be what brings Sanchez west once again.
Chip Kelly has said he likes Pryor and he could fit in as a backup for Nick Foles, while the Raiders also have to look at both Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings on the market. The team has options like Ben Tate and Knowshon Moreno, but they may look to sign back Jennings and McFadden is the price is right. McFadden is getting attention on the market, while Jennings could do the same after leading the team in rushing last season.
The Raiders are looking to overhaul both sides of the ball and they have plenty of money to spend. The team can keep their own major free agents and have enough money to continue adding players.
