Getty The Raiders' Hunter Renfrow
It would not exactly be a shocker, now, would it? After spending the better part of a year trying to find a taker for receiver Hunter Renfrow, the Raiders will need to go through the formality of actually letting him go. And, as Pro Football Focus points out, we’ve finally hit a point at which simply dropping Renfrow makes good financial sense, getting the team out of the final year of its two-year, $32.3 million commitment to him.
Indeed, there does not appear to be much room in the Raiders offense for Renfrow, especially if the Raiders keep star wide receiver Davante Adams, as it has been indicated they will do.
In an article titled, ‘Cut Candidates for All 32 Teams,” PFF wrote that the Raiders would save $8.2 million off the salary cap and take on $5.5 million in dead money by axing Renfrow.
“This move has been percolating for some time, as Las Vegas has shopped Renfrow in trades for more than a year. With Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers as the clear one-two and the steady emergence of rookie Tre Tucker, the finances finally align with the roster decision,” PFF noted.
Raiders Hunter Renfrow Production Dropped Sharply
It would be a relatively sad ending for Renfrow, the fifth-round pick of the Raiders in 2019. He had two decent seasons with total 105 catches and 1,261 yards in his first two years in the NFL, but had a breakout year, seemingly out of the blue, in his third season, playing under Jon Gruden/Rich Bisaccia and catching passes from Derek Carr.
Renfrow caught 103 passes for 1,043 yards that season, adding nine touchdowns and earning a spot in the Pro Bowl. Renfrow actually said that defying how Gruden wanted to do things saved his career.
“I remember going back home that bye week and thinking, ‘Alright, this ain’t working, I’m going to have to do it my way,” Renfrow said during an appearance on The Players’ Club Podcast. “I know coach Gruden wants me to run it like this. I know they want me to run it like this, but I’m going to be out of the league in about a couple games if I keep doing it like that. I’m terrible.’ I didn’t want to look back in regret and say ‘Oh, I was trying to please them so much and do it this certain way.’”
But when the Raiders hired coach Josh McDaniels, Renfrow’s “own way” did not work any longer. He had just 61 catches for 585 yards in the past two seasons.
WR Davante Adams Expected to Return
There is a chance that Renfrow could stay put if the Raiders were to trade away Adams, but one of the storylines that has emerged in recent weeks is that the team intends to hold on to Adams. At age 31, Adams could want out of Las Vegas and force a trade to rejoin his former quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, with the Jets.
The Insiders on @NFLGameDay: The #Raiders want to be aggressive, but trading up for a QB will be a real challenge; Aaron Rodgers has been recruiting Davante Adams, but the #Raiders don’t plan on trading great players; The #Bucs plans for Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans.
Not so fast, however. Here’s what insider Ian Rapoport said on the NFL Network Super Bowl pregame show about an Adams deal:
“The Las Vegas Raiders in win-now mode, not really in the business of giving away players, which is why the fact that, my understanding, Aaron Rodgers has been trying to recruit Davante Adams to the Jets—remember, the Jets kind of made a run at him this past year, there was nothing there. Expected to try again this offseason.
“From what I am told, the Raiders want to win, believe they can and have zero plans to trade Davante Adams.”