Oakland Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie may "feel really good" about the players he and head coach Jack Del Rio brought in during NFL free agency, as he recently told Scott Bair of CSN Bay Area, but that doesn't mean fans of the team share his overt enthusiasm.
McKenzie, despite his ardent assessment of his own free agency efforts, missed out on pretty much every big name that was available - Ndamukong Suh, Randall Cobb, Jeremy Maclin, Julius Thomas.
That's not to say the Raiders were even interested in all of them - though reports suggested they were - or that they did any more than their due diligence once the latest league year opened last Tuesday - McKenzie said the plan was to "go after them hard and heavy" so it seems more than a little effort was, in fact, made - but heading home with mostly second or third-tier players when you've got cash to spend and major holes to fill has to feel at least a little like a missed opportunity.
McKenzie does not seem fazed.
"That's the way in played out," McKenzie said, per Bair. "We pursued some guys, but they ultimately have to make a decision."
Luckily for McKenzie, other options remain for him to plug those glaring holes - at pass rusher and at the skill positions around young franchise quarterback Derek Carr - most notably the 2015 NFL Draft.
"Those decisions point to skill-player acquisition in the NFL draft, quite possibly at the No. 4 overall pick," writes Bair. "Receivers Amari Cooper and Kevin White should be available when the Raiders make that selection."
Considering the reported interest in Cobb - not so much in Maclin - and that were the season to start today Carr would be tossing passes to the likes of James Jones, Rod Streater and Andre Holmes on the outside, an influx of talent at the wide receiver is nearly a necessity.
Cooper and White will, no doubt, garner much consideration from the Oakland brass at the fourth overall selection in the first-round. The draft is also deep at the position, with players like Breshad Perriman and Phillip Dorsett expected to be available early in the third-round.
Options will abound for McKenzie and the solid secondary additions he did make in free agency - center Rodney Hudson, defensive tackle Dan Williams, linebackers Malcolm Smith and Curtis Lofton - allow him the flexibility to enter the draft with BPA (Best Player Available...at a position of need, of course) his only mandate.
Still, Carr is a young, ascending talent at quarterback - adding players with the skill and ability to grow alongside him and aid his development is paramount for a Raiders organization looking to finally pull themselves out of the doldrums of the NFL.
