The Oakland Raiders have reportedly signed a deal with Malcolm Smith this offseason in free agency and the team may also look at Jermaine Gresham, Terrance Knighton, Rahim Moore, Ryan Mathews and CJ Spiller as potential targets on the market.
According to Adam Schefter the team has added Smith and they are also targeting other players on the market, including Knighton from the Broncos. The team is hoping he can come in after they wanted to sign Ndamukong Suh, but he left Detroit for the Dolphins.
The was hoping to put up an offer for Ndamukong Suh, as they had the cap space to compete with any offer the Detroit Lions made, but both teams lost out to the Dolphins. Suh reportedly wanted to be the highest paid defensive player in the league and now it looks like he has it. Suh is immensely talented and he comes in at 28-years-old and has previously had anger issues in the past.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Suh was looking for a contract worth $100 million with at least $50 million guaranteed and he ended up getting more than that. The new deal puts him over JJ Watt and his salary. Suh is coming in after recording 8.5 sacks last season and helping the Lions have the top ranked rush defense.
The team is reportedly releasing LaMarr Woodley, who was one of the notable free agent signings from last offseason. Last year McKenzie was active in free agency, but he didn't sign any major deals to hamstring the cap and now the team carries over some money. The team added Justin Tuck, Maurice-Jones Drew and James Jones and those players all are likely to return for next season. The team likes Khalil Mack and they also feel that DJ Hayden has the chance to develop into a consistent cornerback in the secondary.
According to Over the Cap, the Raiders are projected to have over $50 million in cap space this offseason and with a deep class of players, Oakland could be very active. General manager Reggie McKenzie did not sign too many big contracts last offseason and that has allowed the Raiders to set up for a big offseason.
The Raiders are set to lose Darren McFadden to free agency and with him not likely to return, CJ Spiller, Adrian Peterson and Murray all could be targets along with Shane Vereen, Ben Tate and DeAngelo Williams. Torrey Smith reportedly likes the 49ers and could sign there, while Michael Crabtree could look at moving across the Bay area. Crabtree is not expected back with the Niners, while Vereen is considered a target for the Giants and the Seahawks. The Raiders were one of the worst offensive teams in the league last season and now they can try and add some weapons for Derek Carr.
The Raiders brought in Jack Del Rio as the new head coach and owner Mark Davis introduced him as the type of leader that he expects to be with the franchise long term. The Raiders have had problems with that over the last stretch of years and Davis is hoping Del Rio has more success than Dennis Allen did. The team fired Allen midway through the season and put in Tony Sparano as the interim coach, but Davis did not retain him after the season.
