Oakland Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie and head coach Jack Del Rio may have missed out on the marquee names in NFL free agency, but that doesn't mean they're conceding defeat.
Instead, it seems the Raiders brain trust has lowered their sights a bit to the more attainable second-tier of available free agents, targeting a couple of players at positions of need that will come much cheaper than Ndamukong Suh and Julius Thomas.
"Add NT Dan Williams as another potential #Raiders target. Team still pushing to sign TE Jermaine Gresham at start of free agency," tweeted Adam Schefter of ESPN.
While Williams certainly isn't Suh and Gresham doesn't provide the same type of wow-factor as Thomas, the two moves would fill positions of need without the Raiders having to break the bank (of course, the team needs to spend to reach the salary cap floor but they can do that a myriad of ways).
The Cincinnati Bengals and Gresham have gone through something of an acrimonious exchange in recent days. Still, Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson told ESPN that "there's a place for him" with the Bengals and Gresham, while appearing on Sirius/XM NFL Radio last week, said that his "heart is in Cincinnati."
Gresham, a former first-round pick, has had a good, if not great NFL career thus far. In five seasons with the Bengals, he's never posted more than 64 receptions or six touchdowns.
His best year was 2012 when he caught 64 balls for 737 yards and five touchdowns.
Still, he'd provide a major upgrade over the guys currently on the Raiders roster at tight end - Mychal Rivera, Brian Leonhardt, Scott Simonson - and won't cost nearly as much as the reported $9 million per year deal Thomas, the former Bronco, is set to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Williams, a 6-foot-2, 330-pounder that is strong at the point of attack and holds up exceptionally well in the run game, isn't so much a fallback option from Suh as he'd represent an increase in overall talent level on the defensive line.
Justin "Jelly" Ellis was a surprise find for the Raiders in the fourth-round of the draft last season and performed well when given the opportunity. Pat Sims is the back-up at the moment and didn't offer much in the way of impact after losing the starting gig to Ellis.
Williams would immediately increase the level of competition on the defensive line and presumably push Ellis to bigger things next season.
