Raiders have 2nd most cap space heading into 2022 NFL season

Raiders head into the season with the 2nd most cap space in NFL. But will they spend it?

The 2022 NFL season opens today when the Rams and Bills square off on Thursday Night Football. The Raiders will take the field on Sunday against the rival Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood California.

Usually when the season is upon us, the roster is set. You have spent all offseason, training camp, and preseason getting to know these players and they have been learning the scheme. But if even then, there are weak areas, looking to free agency might be the smartest move.

If the Raiders wish to do it, they have the money to make it happen. The second most cap space in the NFL to be exact.

Only the Browns ($37.9M) have more cap space than the Raiders ($16.17M).

There is a glaringly obvious area in which the Raiders could stand to spend some money — the offensive line.

Not only is it the weakest unit on the team, the Raiders spend less money on it than 30 other teams. Yes, they spend the second least amount on the offensive line in the league.

One benefit to waiting until after the season opener to spend that money is contract are no longer guaranteed after that. So, they can feel more comfortable taking a player they deem to be a risk.

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The biggest question for every NFL team in the 2022 season

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar asks — and tries to answer — the most pressing questions for every NFL team as the 2022 season begins.

No matter how great any team is, every team has its share of questions to answer when a new season begins. The 1968 Baltimore Colts looked unbeatable until they met the New York Jets in Super Bowl III, and Jets running back Matt Snell exploited the weak right side of Baltimore’s defensive front over and over on the way to one of the greatest upsets in sports history. The 2007 New England Patriots were unbeatable until they lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII because their interior offensive line couldn’t handle the Giants’ NASCAR pressure packages.

No matter how great your team is, one little thing can turn everything upside down.

Conversely, teams that may look hopeless are actually building credibly to the future, and that will show up on the field more than anybody might think. And then there are the NFL’s stragglers — the teams for whom there is little present hope, and the primary question is, “How do we transcend our multiple weaknesses to be at least competitive?”

Each of the NFL’s 32 teams have questions to answer coming into the 2022 season, which of course is right around the corner. So here, for your consideration, are the most pressing questions every NFL team will — and must — answer in the new season.

The NFL’s best remaining free agents

NFL free agents can still make a difference, even this close to the regular season. Here are the best players still on the open market, for whatever reason.

One week from today, the NFL’s 2022 regular season officially begins when the Los Angeles Rams host the Buffalo Bills. Teams have already been busy between wrapping up their training camps, prepping for Week 1, and both waiving and claiming players based on the league’s mandated roster cuts last Tuesday.

There is one more aspect of team-building that every franchise will pay some level of attention to at this point: Are there available free agents who can help our team for the right price? There are still valuable free agents on the open market. Some are recovering from injuries, or bad seasons, or they’ve already fielded multiple offers, and they’re either weighing the best opportunity, or just waiting for training camp to end so they don’t have to deal with that.

Here are our best remaining free agents with one calendar week left to go before the regular season; don’t be surprised if the majority of these guys get snapped up somewhere before the Rams and Bills kick things off.

Lions host DT Malcom Brown on a visit

The Detroit Lions host free agent and former 1st round pick DT Malcom Brown on a visit

With the unsavory development on the Levi Onwuzurike injury front, the Detroit Lions have gone looking for outside help along the defensive line. The team held a visit with free agent DT Malcom Brown on Thursday.

Field Yates of ESPN was the first to report it, and a local source confirmed the visit to Lions Wire. There was no immediate word on if Brown would sign with Detroit.

Brown was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. The 2015 first-round pick out of Texas spent his first four years with the New England Patriots before signing with the New Orleans Saints. In his time in New Orleans, Lions DC Aaron Glenn and head coach Dan Campbell were both on the Saints staff. Brown had a career-high 57 tackles in 2021 in his one year in Jacksonville, also bagging two sacks and one PD.

At 320 pounds, Brown is more of a traditional nose tackle. But with the injury issues plaguing Onwuzurike and second-round pick Josh Paschal, overall depth remains an issue all over the interior defensive line.

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Former Lions DT Nick Williams is signing with the New York Giants

Williams was a starter for the Lions for the last two seasons

One of the few remaining 2021 Detroit Lions who is still on the free agent market has found a new home. Defensive tackle Nick Williams is signing with the New York Giants, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com.

Williams spent the last two seasons in Detroit and was a 17-game starter in 2021. He logged 50 total tackles and just 1.5 sacks in 31 games for the Lions after signing as a free agent from the Chicago Bears.

There had been little buzz on Williams on the free agent market. Terms of his deal with the Giants are not yet available, though multiple other sources have confirmed Garafolo’s report.

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Eagles 2022 training camp preview: Running back

Philadelphia Eagles 2022 training camp preview: We’ll take a look at Miles Sanders and the running backs currently on the roster

The Eagles finished the 2021 NFL season with a franchise record 2,715 yards rushing, but all was not well at the running back position, as quarterback Jalen Hurts led the team in overall rushing with almost 800-yards total on the ground.

We’ll continue our 2022 training camp preview by looking at Philadelphia’s running backs group.

The Eagles currently have Miles Sanders, Kenny Gainwell, Boston Scott Kennedy Brooks, and Jason Huntley on the roster, while Jordan Howard is an unrestricted free agent and still unsigned.

Here’s an early preview of Philadelphia’s running back situation.

5 great right tackle options on market with Raiders set to add $20 million under the cap

Raiders are about to add $20 million in spending cash and there are still a lot of great right tackle options on the market

We tend to think of free agency having a couple of waves that happen back in March. But there’s another wave that is building strength as we speak. This one crashes on the shore on June 1.

This offseason the Raiders made a few cuts, some to save cap money, some to simply let go of unproductive players. A couple of those cuts left a scar — specifically the releases of Cory Littleton and Carl Nassib.

But in order to limit the bleeding in the short term, they gave those players a post-June 1 cut designation. This means that after June 1, a large portion of the dead money they left behind is moved to next year’s cap, which in turn frees up that money right now.

It’s no small amount, either. The Raiders will see their available money under the cap go up nearly $20 million after June 1 — $19.75 to be exact — raising it from the current available amount of around $5 million to over $25 million.

One position of great need for the Raiders this offseason which they have not sufficiently addressed is offensive tackle — right tackle specifically. And, as it turns out, there are actually still a lot of solid starting options out there, presumably waiting for this day so teams will have the funds to offer them a suitable salary.

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Buccaneers signing DT Akiem Hicks heats up Ndamukong Suh to Raiders rumor mill

Reports of Raiders potential interest in Ndamukong Suh surface as Buccaneers seemingly move on from 35-year-old former All-Pro.

As of Tuesday morning, the Buccaneers were said to be still weighing their options with regard to the possibility of bringing back defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. As of now, however, that door may have been slammed shut.

The Bucs have agreed to terms with DT Akiem Hicks on a one-year, $10 million deal according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

A deal like that suggests the Bucs have found their starter to go alongside Vita Vea and thus moved on from the 35-year-old Suh.

Meanwhile, there is one report out there from early Tuesday morning that the Raiders have at least shown some interest in Suh. Or even that the other potential suitors have been dropping out.

How much weight to put behind this report is hard to say. For now, it’s perhaps just worth noting in light of the Buccaneers making the decision to add Hicks on the same day.

The Raiders have been busy signing and drafting defensive tackles this offseason, making any interest at this point seem somewhat odd.

But if you want to find a way to make sense of any potential interest, it isn’t hard to do so.

Even at 35, Suh is still dominant. He had six sacks last season and 12 over the past two seasons, while Raiders’ current projected starting DT Bilal Nichols had just three sacks last season and eight over his past two seasons. Suh also hoisted the Lombardi trophy a season ago.

Defensive interior lines usually work on a rotation, so it’s often the more the merrier, as was the case last season for the Raiders, making for one of their better groups in some time.

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Texans should consider S Landon Collins as final piece to complete the secondary

Former Washington safety Landon Collins could revitalize his career with the Houston Texans, who could still use some help in the secondary.

Entering the 2022 offseason, the Houston Texans’ secondary was one of the weakest links on the team. Their boundary corner play had been well below average in 2021 and the two most talented defensive back on the team, Justin Reid and Desmond King, were all but guaranteed to leave in free agency.

Despite running a defense that is primarily driven by its defensive lineman and linebackers, the weakness of the secondary was a major concern. That was until Nick Caserio decided it wouldn’t be. Houston invested massively in their cornerback group over the next few months.

Derek Stingley was drafted third overall, with new head coach Lovie Smith preaching that Stingley had the talent to shadow team’s best receivers every game. King was resigned to a very team-friendly contract. Steven Nelson was signed away from the Philadelphia Eagles to start at the boundary corner opposite Stingley.

Many now project that the cornerback group could be the strength of the team. This looks to be a potential great boost if Smith is to succeed at coach compared to his previous tenure in Tampa Bay. Unfortunately, there is still a glaring problem in the secondary.

The safety group is only marginally improved.

Defensive back Jalen Pitre was drafted 37th overall fin Round 2 from Baylor with many analysts projecting him to play a safety role at the next level. However, Pitre played more of a STAR role as a Bear, a cross between nickel corner and weakside linebacker, and has never been tasked with high safety coverage responsibilities before.

M.J. Stewart is a 29-year-old safety that was signed from the Cleveland Browns but he also requires some major projection to take up a larger role in Smith’s defense. Otherwise the position group went untouched during the free agency period. Caserio did a fabulous job addressing needs all around the roster but this is one that was seemingly ignored.

Entering June of the off-season, the options to upgrade are pretty limited but there is one name in particular that’s surprisingly still available.

Washington safety Landon Collins.

Collins is 28 years old and a three-time Pro Bowler with the New York Giants. He was selected 33rd overall by New York after spending three years with Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, otherwise known as the best coaches in college football.

Collins was the recipient of a record-breaking six-year, $84 million contract in the summer of 2019 to Washington before injuries ultimately disrupted both his 2020 and 2021 seasons. Despite having started all 94 games he’s played at the NFL level, Collins is still unsigned.

It would likely take a strong financial investment from Houston but he represents a chance to alleviate some major concerns in the defensive secondary. A large, one-year contract could make sense for Collins to re-establish himself before jumping on a large multi-year contract during the 2023 off-season.

He has played both free safety and strong safety over the course of his career and could seemingly settle one of the two positions full time. This would allow players like Eric Murray to focus all their efforts at one of the spots.

Collins has some history playing linebacker last season for Washington and this could serve in Houston’s favor in two ways. First, this could benefit the team as Collins could serve as a role model to Pitre with very similar play styles and more experience in the league. They’re both instinctive tacklers and Collins’ presence would offer Pitre a more direct kind of role model that isn’t currently on the roster.

Second, Houston could offer true stability to Collins. They are firmly set at the linebacker position and could assure the veteran safety he would not be asked to play outside of the defensive back group.

Finally, upgrading at safety serves to benefit the entire secondary. Stingley and Nelson can play looser and instinctively in man coverage knowing they have strong players on the back end should they get beat. Creating hesitation for opposing quarterbacks to throw over the top means more time for pass rushers Jonathan Greenard and Maliek Collins to get to the quarterback.

Nobody knows what Collins is searching for in his next team. He could have a multitude of options and be waiting to sign with a championship contender.  The market could be dry with Collins’ searching for an opportunity to prove to the league that he still is what he once was.

Houston isn’t likely winning many games in 2021. However, as they once did for Tyrann Mathieu, the Texans can offer a lifeline to Collins. A guaranteed role with a known high quality defensive head coach. In exchange for a large one-year deal for Collins while he restores his status in the NFL, Houston could acquire a player that puts every player on their secondary in a better position to succeed.

A potential win-win arrangement that could pay huge dividends to both parties without any commitment to the future. Caserio should be picking up the phone tomorrow to see if he could work salary cap magic and bring Collins to Space City.

ESPN analyst not a fan of the Lions offseason moves

ESPN analyst Bill Barnwell is among those who aren’t fans of the Lions offseason moves

There is a lot of buzz about the Detroit Lions lately, but not everyone is buying into the hype for the team coming off the lousy 3-13-1 season. Count ESPN’s Bill Barnwell among those who aren’t big believers in the alleged improvement in Detroit.

Barnwell ranks the Lions offseason 27th out of 32 in his breakdown ranking the offseasons of the NFL teams.

As Barnwell leads off in the notes of the “what went wrong” section,

I applaud Detroit’s patience and restraint, but are we sure the best thing to do after a 3-13-1 season is double down on only signing Lions?

It’s a sentiment shared by many, including my own thoughts expressed on the Detroit Lions Podcast. Prioritizing below-average 2021 Lions players like QB Tim Boyle, LB Alex Anzalone, WR Kalif Raymond and S C.J. Moore is indeed a decision that deserves critical scrutiny. The Lions clearly value continuity and culture, and that helped shape the decision Holmes made in keeping so many free agents in the den.

Interestingly, the tone from Barnwell in the critical section isn’t really all that negative. It’s more of a quizzical pondering of the decisions than an outright condemmation. And the positives Barnwell notes are filled with effusive praise of moves like adding WR DJ Chark and drafting Aidan Hutchinson No. 2 overall.