Getty Las Vegas Raiders GM Dave Ziegler.
It’s possible that Hunter Renfrow will no longer be a Las Vegas Raider after the October 31 NFL trade deadline.
The Athletic’s Tashan Reed wrote on October 25 that the Raiders “have made Renfrow available, according to league sources.”
And Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz said Las Vegas has been “trying to move” the former Pro Bowler.
“From everything I’ve been told, the Raiders have been trying to move Renfrow, really, back to last season, and unfortunately, they haven’t been able to find a suitor — in large part because of his contract,” Schultz said in an October 24 video segment called “NFL Insider Scoops.” “I can tell you both sides want to find a healthy separation. It’s a mutual agreement that a change of scenery for Renfrow would benefit everyone involved.”
He has played just 36% of the team’s offensive snaps this season, a career low. And, according to Schultz, his relationship with head coach Josh McDaniels isn’t in a good place.
“It has not worked out since he got that big money deal with the Raiders and it really comes down to a fractured relationship with Josh McDaniels and this goes all the way back to last season,” Schultz said.
Renfrow, who turns 28 in December, signed a two-year, $32 million contract extension in June 2022, after his Pro Bowl season. In 2022, McDaniels’ first season as head coach, Renfrow appeared in only 10 games (with just one start) in 2022 because of a concussion and an oblique injury and his stats plummeted, to 330 receiving yards from 1038 and to receiving touchdowns from nine. This season, he has only 72 receiving yards and has been targeted only 12 times.
Why Has Hunter Renfrow Fallen Out of Favor?
“From everything I’ve been told, it’s been really frustrating for Renfrow in the sense that not only is not really being used, he’s not on the field, but I think you have a coach and a player that for whatever reason have never been able to get on the same page,” Schultz added.
According to the Associated Press, Renfrow didn’t appear “to be a good fit for Josh McDaniels’ system.”
“This is what happens sometimes when you’re talking about professional athletes in general,” Schultz said. “Sometimes a player and a coach don’t mesh and oftentimes it’s best to cut bait.”
Renfrow isn’t a diva and doesn’t cause issues off the field. In fact, he told reporters in July that he let down his teammates.
“That’s something that left a bad taste in my mouth and something that I want to get over and prove to them — through the spring and also going into the season — that I’m a guy that they can count on and just go and be consistent,” Renfrow said at a July 28 press conference.
New York Jets Could Be Fit for Hunter Renfrow
There doesn’t appear to be much interest in him right now, and that’s partly the Raiders’ fault, according to Newsweek’s Joe Kozlowski.
“The team has tanked their own player’s value,” Kozlowski wrote in a story published October 9. “Put it this way. You can only sell (or trade) something for the price that someone is willing to pay. And if you’re an NFL general manager, you’re not exactly chomping at the bit to acquire Renfrow.”
However, Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus recently made the case for the New York Jets to go after Renfrow.
“Renfrow would still represent a nice upgrade for the Jets in the slot,” Spielberger wrote in an October 23 column. “Among 89 wide receivers with at least 100 offensive snaps, Randall Cobb’s 0.15 yards per route run ranks dead last by nearly triple the next lowest mark. Cobb has caught 60% of passes deemed catchable, also last in this group, with his 40% drop rate double the next worst mark.”