The schedule has turned to June and that’s important for the Las Vegas Raiders.
After Wednesday, the team will receive a salary cap of $19.75 million thanks to previous releases of linebacker Cory Littleton and defensive end Carl Nassib. Each team gets two cap designations after June 1 and Littleton and Nassib were the Raiders’ cuts on June 1 this year.
With the influx of cap relief, the Raiders will have a new total of approximately $25 million in salary cap.
So what will new Las Vegas GM Dave Ziegler do with his new cap room? Should we expect an avalanche of signatures in the Nevada desert?
We’ll see, but the Raiders can do it a number of ways. First, they need to save $5-10 million for in-season emergencies and they still have a few rookies to sign.
Also, it’s possible they could use some of that new money to sign slot wide receiver Hunter Renfrow to a contract extension. He is eligible for a new contract and is expected to be a free agent next year. There was speculation in the media that an overtime could be completed for Renfrow, who had 103 strikes and made the Pro-Bowl in 2021, this summer. Tight end Darren Waller is also up for a contract extension in Las Vegas.
And, yes, the Raiders could choose to sign more players. The Las Vegas Review-Journal recently reported that the sense is, for the most part, that the 2022 slate is up in Las Vegas. But the Raiders can also tinker, and I expect them to. They recently signed former Green Bay defensive lineman Tyler Lancaster and more moves are possible.
There has been speculation that the Raiders could sign defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. He’s 35 and the Raiders have a ton of defensive tackle competition, so this could be a luxury buy.
The Raiders could also add offensive tackle and cornerback. At tackle, possibilities include Duane Brown, Eric Fisher, Daryl Williams and Riley Reiff. The cornerback market includes Chris Harris, Kevin King and Xavier Rhodes.
However, the Raiders want to continue with their adjusted salary cap outlook for 2022, they will now be able to begin that plan.
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