After last season, the Las Vegas Raiders had some of the most salary cap space in the NFL. They decided to use almost all of it on big free agent signings this offseason.
With the season about to start, the Raiders had very little salary cap space to make moves during the season. They decided to restructure a couple of contracts.
According to Over the Cap, the Raiders have restructured the contracts of Quay Walker and Jalen Nailor, which creates $8.26 million in cap space this season. Each player is getting two void years added to their contracts.
That will give the Raiders some money to work with during the season to sign free agents. It’s unlikely this is a precursor to a bigger move. There aren’t that many appealing free agents left on the market.
A lot of teams like to have some cap flexibility during the season because you never know who might become available. The Raiders now have $11.2 million in total salary cap space right now. If the team needs more money down the road, they could start restructuring other contracts, but $11.2 million should be plenty to work with right now.
Could Raiders Use Money to Add Another Weapon?
Whenever a team opens up some salary cap space, it leads to speculation that they could be looking to make a move. Fresh off the news that star tight end Brock Bowers is going to miss Week 1 and possibly longer, the Raiders may want to add another piece to the offense.
Tyreek Hill is the big-name wide receiver who is still a free agent. He could come in and be the Raiders’ No. 1 option. The problem with him is that he’s still not 100% after suffering an injury last season. He may not be ready until October, according to his agent Drew Rosenhaus.
“We’re playing it on the safe side. … We’re not in a rush, we really just want him to be completely healthy,” Rosenhaus said on the “Pat McAfee Show.” “There’s a ton of interest, as you can imagine, in Tyreek, but we want to make sure that he’s 100 percent good to go. That may be a month from now, a couple weeks from now — we’re not in a hurry.”
Bowers should be back by then, so there isn’t much incentive for the Raiders to sign Hill. The New York Giants recently released Darius Slayton, who had 538 receiving yards last season. Perhaps he could be a cheap target for them to add.
Losing Bowers is a Tough Blow
Bowers is supposed to be the centerpiece of the Raiders’ offense. He’s the best player on that side of the ball and might be the best tight end in the NFL.
The Raiders are fortunate that he’s only expected to miss a game or two, but it remains to be seen if he could be slowed down for longer as he continues to recover from surgery. Either way, it’s not an ideal situation for the Raiders or Bowers. If he’s not 100% for a large portion of the season, it’s difficult to see how the Raiders win many games.
Raiders Make 2 Moves to Create $8 Million in Salary Cap Space