Training camp is going to be starting up around the NFL soon, so the top free agents who have been waiting to find the right landing spot will likely start joining teams soon. The Las Vegas Raiders have been mostly quiet since the draft, but they still have some glaring needs.
The most obvious need is at wide receiver, specifically an X-receiver. Kirk Cousins isn’t a big playmaker at this stage in his and Fernando Mendoza is a rookie, so the Raiders may want to give them better receivers to work with.
NFL.com’s Matt Okada detailed the Raiders’ need at X-receiver and floated the idea of the team signing former Buffalo Bills star wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
“Jalen Nailor can stretch defenses, Tre Tucker is a dynamic gadget and Jack Bech might have a promising future,” Okada wrote. “But none of these guys, or anyone else in the wide receiver room, is a legitimate No. 1 for Las Vegas right now. While that responsibility will technically fall to tight end Brock Bowers, the glaring lack of an X on the outside is going to make Fernando Mendoza’s (or Kirk Cousins’) job that much harder. As with the Colts, Vegas might want to consider pursuing free agent Stefon Diggs, who just caught 85 passes for 1,013 yards in New England last season.”
Diggs Has Links to Raiders
From a wide view, Diggs going to the Raiders doesn’t make a ton of sense. He’s 32 years old and still looking for his first Super Bowl. Plus, he has some issues off the field that could become a distraction for a young team.
That said, there would be some appeal of going to the Raiders for him. Diggs was with the Minnesota Vikings when Klint Kubiak was a quarterbacks coach. He also played with Cousins for a few years.
He could like the idea of going somewhere familiar.
Don’t Sleep on Jalen Nailor
The Raiders may not feel they have as big of a need at wide receiver as the media does. They had mutliple opporutnies to sign big names or draft a wide receiver early, but they chose not to.
Their biggest move was signing Jalen Nailor in free agency, who also has previous ties to Cousins from Minnesota. He was mostly in the shadow of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, and now The Athletic’s Sam Warren thinks he’ll be a breakout player this season.
“Nailor has surprisingly been the lone premium addition the Raiders have made at receiver this offseason after trading away top target Jakobi Meyers in November,” Warren wrote. “While that may leave many scratching their heads, it gives Nailor an opportunity to produce like never before. The fifth-year veteran had a solid final two seasons in Minnesota, but was always a tertiary option behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. He now comes into Las Vegas carrying established chemistry with quarterback Kirk Cousins and head coach Klint Kubiak from their Vikings days and no solidified WR1 ahead of him. All signs point to Nailor having a chance to post career numbers in his first season with the Raiders.”
Raiders Told to Pursue Controversial 4-Time Pro Bowler Who Fills Biggest Need