The Oakland Raiders could have upwards of $60 million in salary cap space by the time free agency begins on March 10. Of course, that doesn't mean anything in tangible terms. The Raiders had almost $70 million in salary cap room last year, yet the team allowed left tackle Jared Veldheer and pass-rusher Lamarr Houston to leave town without much of a fight and didn't sign viable replacements. Oakland ended up winning one less game last season than the year before as a result. Having gobs of cap space does not translate to on-field success.
However, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie may be changing his approach to free agency this offseason. Instead of aging veterans, the team could be looking to sign multiple star players.
"The Raiders have been connected to free agents such as Green Bay receiver Randall Cobb, Kansas City center Rodney Hudson and Denver defensive tackle Terrance Knighton, among others," ESPN Raiders reporter Bill Williamson wrote.
McKenzie realizes that he has young and talented building blocks in place in the form of second-year quarterback Derek Carr and linebacker Khalil Mack. His goal is to build around them and add top tier talent to aid the duo's development as well as the overall teams progression in the AFC West.
"We're in the recruiting stage. Free agency, money, is major recruiting," McKenzie said. "It's like colleges, [players] want to see what you got. They want to see where we play, where we practice, where we meet. It's all important. What city you'll be in. Highlight the positives, and that's a part of it. And really, it gets to the point where they talk amongst themselves and everybody is positive. The energy is all about that, it's all about the vibe that they get when they're around current players. They see each other throughout, where they train, where they live. It's up to us to try and help facilitate that.
"I'm going to try and go after good players. I don't think last year, I felt like we need more role players. Now we're looking for some guys who can come in and be impact (players)."
New head coach Jack Del Rio is also on board with a heavy free agent spending spree. He realizes that as it stands now, this Oakland roster is lacking in talent. Signing some marquee players in free agency will not only improve the team for the 2015 season, but it will also make Oakland a more attractive destination going forward.
"Those are things I talked about in the interview process that were important, and they've been followed up with actual commitment of capital, which I'm excited about," Del Rio said. "So as you go into this phase of free agency and acquiring players, we have cap space and we have a new staff full of teachers. We have a young quarterback. We have a good, young man off the edge in Khalil Mack. We've got a good left tackle. We've got corners. The things that we need to get started, we have. So, now we have to start adding good, quality people that are fired up to be part of the Raiders. I'm excited about part of that process that we're just getting into."
Raiders fans shouldn't expect the team to sit out of the bidding wars this offseason nor should they expect the team to only target moderately priced veterans. Instead, Oakland is hoping that the free agent pool will yield some big splashes.
