The Oakland Raiders have had one of the better offseasons of any team in the NFL despite the fact that they were 4-12 last season and in 2013 the roster will look more talented than it previously was and one reason is due to solid draft picks like D.J. Hayden and quarterback Tyler Wilson.
According to ESPN.com, the two players in Wilson and Hayden along with second round pick Menelik Watson are three of only five rookies in the AFC West that have yet to sign contracts. General manager Reggie McKenzie has been working on deals for all three players and just last week he signed third round linebacker Sio Moore to a contract, leaving the three as the only unsigned players for the team. McKenzie already brought in Latavius Murray, Nick Kasa and Brice Butler, but he still has to workout contracts for his first round draft pick as well as quarterback, which sometimes can take time.
Eric Fisher is still unsigned as the number one overall pick for the Kansas City Chiefs and while the team is hoping to get him signed by training camp, there is a chance the deal may not be completed. The Raiders would like to have all their picks signed for training camp and the contracts for both Wilson and Hayden should be interesting, as Wilson is a quarterback that may get the chance to compete, while Hayden had surgery after the draft and has some injury issues in his past.
Hayden almost died in college after suffering a heart injury when he had a bad collision while at Houston and after getting surgery this offseason to take care of some scar tissue, the Raiders may want some medical protection moving forward in case other issues come up. The Raiders knew the risk in drafting Hayden and despite the past injury, they felt he was the most talented corner in the draft and he was the player they wanted at number three anyway. The team got picks from Miami after trading down and McKenzie still got the player he desired.
The Raiders are expecting improvement this season after making a number of moves in the offseason, including switching out quarterbacks after trading Carson Palmer to the Cardinals and bringing in Matt Flynn in a deal with the Seahawks. The team is giving Flynn the chance to start over Terrelle Pryor and Wilson, but that could all change depending on how training camp goes during the summer. The team brought in a number of new players on both sides of the ball and the defense is expected to be much improved, as McKenzie signed Tracy Porter, Charles Woodson, Mike Jenkins, Kevin Burnett and Nick Roach to bolster the linebackers and the secondary.
