The Oakland Raiders are coming into the summer with numerous questions on both sides of the ball and a trade for Andre Johnson with the Houston Texans still could be in play, as Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen want to add more receiver depth with Denarius Moore and the team could also be a target for Brandon flowers, as he was released by the Kansas City Chiefs last week and is now a free agent.
The Raiders are one team that was mentioned as a possibility for Flowers, while the Minnesota Vikings have also been brought up as a possibility, as ESPN.com is reporting that the team has called Flowers and expressed their interest. According to ESPN.com, the Chiefs released Flowers after not finding a trade partner to deal with and now the team has to spread out $7 million in dead money, but they were willing to do that to get rid of his money and now Flowers can sign with another team.
The Chiefs are working on a deal for Alex Smith and wanted to clear space and they also felt that the 5-foot-9 Flowers was not a great fit and now he could be an option for the Vikings or the Raiders. Last season the Vikings ended up 31st in the league in passing yards per game and adding a veteran like Flowers could help get that unit in shape with the young talent they have. The Chiefs released Flowers despite him being a Pro Bowl player in 2013 and while he did not play his best, he could be a nice option going forward for these teams.
The Chiefs used Marcus Cooper as an option for Flowers last season and now they will move on without him. The Raiders ranked 28th in passing yards allowed per game last season and could use him to come in and help DJ Hayden and other players get up to snuff and Allen comes in after being a secondary coach and that unit needs to get better for the Raiders. Last season the Raiders went 4-12 and that came after they had the same record the year before and now the team needs to show some improvement or jobs could be on the line.
Andre Johnson is also an option, although that would take a nice deal from the Raiders to get things done and they may not be willing to do that. Johnson could reunite with his former QB in Matt Schaub and Johnson has been staying away from Texans team activities this offseason. Johnson has not demanded a trade, but if things are not resolved soon the team may not have another choice in the matter. Johnson had over 100 catches last season and had 1,400 yards despite playing with bad QBs and now he could be on his way out of town depending on how things go this offseason.
