Oakland Raiders: Team Managing Their Money Well
By Jim Vickers
The Oakland Raiders entered free agency with more than $70 million in available salary cap space, second most in the NFL. And the team spent its share of money as usual.
General manager Reggie McKenzie made three splashy signings this offseason: Guard Kelechi Osemele, outside linebacker Bruce Irvin and cornerback Sean Smith. But with $24 million still in the check book in terns of cap space (via Spotrac) and some top talent available, it’s unlikely more big names will pen a Silver and Black contract.
Related Story: Big Name Free Agents Oakland Raiders Could Sign
One of the talents that have fans chomping at the bit to go after is New York Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson.
The Jets franchised their prized defensive lineman, whose production in five seasons includes 36.5 sacks, 184 tackles, 10 forced fumbles, 21 batted passes, a safety and a touchdown. Until suffering a broken leg in Week 17 in a loss to the Bills, last season may have been his best to date. Wilkerson plays like a man possessed. Had he not been tagged, he may have been the highest paid free agent in this class.
That raises two difficult problems for teams such as Oakland that are looking to sign impact players and make a playoff push.
First, with that aforementioned $24 million in cap space remaining, McKenzie will have to allocate about $6 million to a rookie pool for incoming draft picks. That cuts the reserve back to about $18 million.
Wilkerson has been tagged at $15 million, and working out a long-term deal, it’s reasonable to assume that he’d be looking for Ndamukong Suh-like money, who averaged close to $20 million in his deal with the Miami Dolphins. After all, Wilkerson’s production practically mirrors Suh’s in terms of sacks, tackles, batted balls, etc, when comparing their first five years in the league.
Remember, defensive end Malik Jackson got an average of about $17 million – with far less production, totaling only 14.5 sacks during his four years in the league.
That potential $20 million number would put Oakland in the negative.
At the cost of the tag alone, $15 million, Wilkerson would slash the Raiders cap space to $3 million with other holes to fill, making that playoff push difficult.
The second problem is that the Jets will likely want a king’s ransom to trade Wilkerson. That deal would probably include a first-round draft choice. For teams like Oakland that need young talent and already have a respectable front seven, the price is too high, even though Wilkerson is an amazing talent.
At the same time, the Jets are really up against it. With Wilkerson’s salary on the books, they’re in the negative when including the rookie pool and they haven’t re-signed starting signal-caller Ryan Fitzpatrick yet. So, something needs to give. But whatever gives, it probably won’t include the Raiders.
Another reason it would be un-Reggie-like to make another big signing is long-term planning.
Several of the team’s core young players will have their rookie contracts expire at the end of 2017. This offseason saw Denver’s perennial backup quarterback Brock Osweiler sign with Houston for $18 million per year.
Derek Carr will be a free agent in 2018 and I’d wager McKenzie would prefer to lock up the franchise quarterback before his contract expires.
Similarly, All-Pro defensive end and outside linebacker Khalil Mack would hit the open market the same season. Denver’s Von Miller was franchised at $14 million for 2016. Considering that last year Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston received a six-year deal averaging close to $17 million a year (with a cap hit of $19 million for 2016), one would expect that a potential long-term deal for Miller could push him close to $20 million yearly.
What would Oakland’s pair of Pro Bowlers command as free agents? McKenzie will need to stash some of this year’s cap money under his mattress in order to re-sign young stars such as Carr and Mack without a roster purge later.