We are officially into the NFL offseason as there are no more games left to be played until August. It’s time to focus on the NFL Combine, free agency and the draft.
But before we get into all of the player acquisitions and movement, it’s fair to wonder where the Raiders stack up compared to the rest of the league. They did just make the playoffs for the first time since 2016, but they have a new general manager and head coach for the first time since 2018.
In a recent piece by ESPN’s 32 beat writers, they ranked all the teams heading into the offseason and their outlook going into the 2022 season. The Raiders came in at No. 15 with the offseason goal to reload and not rebuild. Here is what senior writer Paul Gutierrez had to say about that goal:
“Raiders owner Mark Davis referred to bringing in a new regime/tag team of GM Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels as “taking this to the next level” while complimenting Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock for building a foundation and Rich Bisaccia for fostering a positive culture. Still, the end game is to win games, right?
And while the Raiders just went 10-7 and appeared in the postseason for just the second time since 2002, there are still questions — such as what type of defense will new DC Patrick Graham deploy around Pro Bowl MVP Maxx Crosby? Biggest of all, though, how does Derek Carr, who is entering a contract year, fit in McDaniels’ offensive scheme?”
Are the Raiders going to be Super Bowl contenders in 2022? Probably not. However, they are much closer to accomplishing that goal than bottoming out. And as we saw with the Bengals this year, weird and wild things can happen in the playoffs.
The Raiders would be wise to restock the talent on the offensive line, bring in a few more veteran defenders and try to make another run in 2022-2023. It’s still a talented roster and they are one of the better teams in the AFC.
Look for them to retool and not rebuild this offseason.
