Over the offseason, the Raiders made several big moves that had significant cap implications. The team moved on from players like Tyrell Williams, Lamarcus Joyner, Trent Brown and Gabe Jackson, just to name a few. While the team *might* be worse on paper, their cap situation for the future couldn’t be any brighter.
In a recent article by Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus, they looked at the cap situations for all 32 teams over the next three years. The Raiders actually came in at No. 7 as they are set to have nearly $53 million in cap space in 2022 and $156 million in 2023.
One of the reasons the Raiders ranked so highly is due to the fact that they don’t give out a ton of guaranteed money at the backend of contracts. But even despite their great cap situation, the site couldn’t help themselves from taking a shot at the Raiders and their front office:
“The Raiders are perhaps artificially buoyed by the fact that they structure their contracts to limit prorated money as much as possible. They never want to find themselves in a situation where sunk money holds them back; thus, they never even entertain the notion. They also traded away two high-priced veterans in center Rodney Hudson and right guard Gabe Jackson this offseason. The clock is ticking entering Year 4 of the Jon Gruden tenure to field a truly competitive roster, and the consensus seems to be that the Raiders probably got worse this offseason, not better.”
Are the Raiders Super Bowl contenders in 2021? Probably not. But they have set themselves up well to be aggressive in free agency and through trades over the next two seasons. If the Raiders can continue to improve and make the playoffs this season, that would be a great step forward with a bright cap situation ahead of them.
Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden certainly aren’t perfect talent evaluators, but they have done a good job of keeping their cap options open for the next few seasons. Look for the Raiders to be extremely aggressive next season bringing in talent as they will have the cap space to do so.
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