Raiderstation

Free agency opens March 11. CBS Sports has their top 50 ranking. No Raiders on the list. I am surprised at a couple rated high - Aaron Rodgers and Daniel Jones. Lots of wide receivers

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/earl ... ng-top-50/

STHfrontrow wrote: Thu Jan 15, 2026 7:19 pm Lloyd would be a solid start for LB group. The defense needs a few more dogs besides Maxx.

I also would for Adams to come back in a complementary roll.

IS White worth signing again? He seemed to play with energy.

Adams id bring back for sure. White I could take or leave. He’s good for a couple splash plays a game but generally a liability the rest of the time. If you’re thin at LB, he’s fine if the alternative is a LB who’s a liability but doesn’t make any splash plays.

For us it’s a matter of where do we want to spend money. Ton of cap but ton of holes. You’d think offence would get priority if for no other reason then we can’t put Mendoza behind a bad line with no receivers.

Defensively I’d say your dollar goes furthest on edge and LB. Dream scenario for me would be:

1. Tyler Linderbaum, C

2. Rasheed Walker, OT

3. Jalen Phillips, DE

4. Devin Lloyd, Lb

5. Rashid shaheed, WR

6. Draft Elijah Sarrat in the 2nd

raiders93 wrote: Thu Jan 15, 2026 8:08 pm Adams id bring back for sure. White I could take or leave. He’s good for a couple splash plays a game but generally a liability the rest of the time. If you’re thin at LB, he’s fine if the alternative is a LB who’s a liability but doesn’t make any splash plays.

For us it’s a matter of where do we want to spend money. Ton of cap but ton of holes. You’d think offence would get priority if for no other reason then we can’t put Mendoza behind a bad line with no receivers.

Defensively I’d say your dollar goes furthest on edge and LB. Dream scenario for me would be:

1. Tyler Linderbaum, C

2. Rasheed Walker, OT

3. Jalen Phillips, DE

4. Devin Lloyd, Lb

5. Rashid shaheed, WR

6. Draft Elijah Sarrat in the 2nd

I'd love that although i'd swap Lloyd with Nakobe Dean. I Def would like us to grab Sarrat

GoodTimeCharlie wrote: Thu Jan 15, 2026 6:53 pm Not really allowed to intimidate in that way anymore. Sure you have the Raven vs Steelers games that harken back to the hard-hitting days of yore, but those games also produce up to 7 more penalties called than the NFL average.

The way you intimidate now is by being smarter rather than meaner. Make the QB “see ghosts”, or like the recent Charger vs Patriots game where Spillane said he was told postgame by Charger players that they had no idea what coverages the Patriots were running.

In essence, we need better (smarter) coaching, and better (smarter) players, but that’s nothing new.

Oh yeah, I know, in today's game we'd get flagged, thrown out of the game, and fined..but it would at least be nice for opposing receivers to know that when they catch a ball while crossing the middle of the field, they are gonna get hammered. And knowing that, they may very well develop "alligator arms".

In other words, I'd like to see the Raiders play defense more like the Steelers, Ravens, Texans, etc.

I think some may be expecting far to much from FA. We are not in as good of cap shape as some think. We got that big pansy digit boy and Smith hanging over our heads. I would also expect us to be in the market for another cheap QB when Smith gets his papers as well. The only player who is close to the must resign category is Stokes. I think most of our FA additions and draft will be focused on offense. We have to protect our investments. The only way to truly fix our OL this season if thats the agenda (we need 3 guys if we are being honest) is to sign a stud and trade Max for a starter and a good pick plus.

RI RAIDER wrote: Fri Jan 16, 2026 4:54 am I think some may be expecting far to much from FA. We are not in as good of cap shape as some think. We got that big pansy digit boy and Smith hanging over our heads. I would also expect us to be in the market for another cheap QB when Smith gets his papers as well. The only player who is close to the must resign category is Stokes. I think most of our FA additions and draft will be focused on offense. We have to protect our investments. The only way to truly fix our OL this season if thats the agenda (we need 3 guys if we are being honest) is to sign a stud and trade Max for a starter and a good pick plus.

2nd most cap space is not as good as we think? And we get cap relief by cutting Geno.

Attyla wrote: Fri Jan 16, 2026 5:07 am 2nd most cap space is not as good as we think? And we get cap relief by cutting Geno.

I am far from a cap expert. That being said if we lose the Wilkins case, release Geno, and sign a cheap QB, that will easily cost us 40 million. Maybe Chucker can jump on this.

Well, I know that cutting Geno with a post June 1st designation saves us 8M in cap savings even with the dead money. I do not know what the Wilkins situation is to be precise, but as of right now a date to hear the grievance has not been set so I doubt it will affect our cap status for this year since we are two months away from free agency. I could be wrong.

Cutting Geno at the earliest chance we can saves us $8 million this year and designating him June 1 wouldn't save more than that.

I looked at the Wilkins thing a while ago and can't remember what the details were. I think the team could lose about $20 million in cap this year if they lose the appeal. It's probably not worth worrying about at the moment because the team can easily deal with that kind of cap hit if it happens because there's plenty of cap flexibility in other contracts to restructure and find some cap space.

Id guess the raiders have a good case given no team has even sniffed Wilkins. If you cant release a player for cause whos trying to molest his teammates who can you release for cause?

DarthRaider wrote: Thu Jan 15, 2026 4:17 pm Brady Christensen would be a great get for the offensive line. He can play every position well! In my opinion he could easily improve RT until Grant is ready and move Glaze inside to G.

Hasn’t he been playing inside recently?

RI RAIDER wrote: Fri Jan 16, 2026 5:37 am I am far from a cap expert. That being said if we lose the Wilkins case, release Geno, and sign a cheap QB, that will easily cost us 40 million. Maybe Chucker can jump on this.

Wilkins cap hit is already against us, it can only get off. Doubt we’ll sign a QB worth a huge amount either

WolfRaider wrote: Fri Jan 16, 2026 6:53 am Wilkins cap hit is already against us, it can only get off. Doubt we’ll sign a QB worth a huge amount either

From CBS:

The arbitrator deciding in favor of the Raiders would produce a $14.1 million cap credit that would help offset the $29.775 million in 2026 dead money. Wilkins winning his grievance would result in $21.15 million of additional salary cap charges for the Raiders in 2026.

WolfRaider wrote: Fri Jan 16, 2026 6:53 am Wilkins cap hit is already against us, it can only get off. Doubt we’ll sign a QB worth a huge amount either

The Raiders have a 2026 cap hit for Wilkins but that's for the proration of cash they'd already paid him before releasing him. He still had guaranteed future money that the Raiders voided, and that has not been paid and that is what he's appealing. That potential cap hit is not reflected in the numbers at this time. If the team loses the appeal, there will be an additional cap hit.

Hopefully Wilkins loses. You can see where I am going with this. The cap could go quick if Wilkins wins (signing a new QB and resigning some players). I am not saying we will not get a stud. However, I think we have to temper our expectations. We have plenty of time to build this team up now that we HOPEFULLY have a franchise QB on a rookie deal. Rome was not built in a day.

I wonder why this arbitration is being drug out. It feels as if the timeframe is unnecessary.