Las Vegas Raiders: Paying aged players rather than youth
The NFL is a young man’s game. Outside of Tom Brady, teams are generally building around young stars but the Las Vegas Raiders went out on a limb and traded the farm for wide receiver Davante Adams and signed free agent pass rusher Chandler Jones.
Adams is great and has put up some stellar numbers in his career. However, he turns 30 this season and was just given a five-year $141.25 million deal.
That’s a lot of money for an aged receiver and if anyone wants to question it, they should just look at how many wideouts over the age of 30 are dominating the league — let alone in their mid-30s, which Adams will be when this contract is done.
As if this wasn’t enough, the Raiders also paid Chandler Jones $51 million over three seasons. Sure, Jones is a talented player but he’s 32 and that doesn’t bode well for his future prospects.
As if that wasn’t enough, they also brought in Josh McDaniels as their head coach. McDaniels has been a well-respected play-caller under Bill Belichick but without the New England head coach in his corner, his track record is less than impressive.
In the end, the front office spent as if they were built to win now, but their roster doesn’t match that philosophy.