With The First Pick
Fansided

Raiders free-agency prospects to fill holes before the NFL Draft

By Geoffrey Godfrey

Dec 20, 2021; Cleveland, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis greets wide receiver DeSean Jackson (1) before the game between the Raiders and the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 20, 2021; Cleveland, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis greets wide receiver DeSean Jackson (1) before the game between the Raiders and the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) evades the tackle attempt of Los Angeles Chargers middle linebacker Kenneth Murray (9) at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports /

Who from 2021 is a free agent in 2022

Here are the free agents that are hitting the market in 2022:

Nicholas Morrow, OLB
Johnathan Hankins, DT
Marcus Mariota, QB
Jalen Richard, RB
K.J. Wright, LB
Solomon Thomas, DE
Zay Jones, WR
DeSean Jackson, WR
Nick Martin, C
Gerald McCoy, DT
Peyton Barber, RB

There is a grab bag here of starters, rotational players, and back-ups. With Mariota, Wright, Hankins, and Thomas being the most important names on this list. With Carr`s season, Mariota may not get retained and I don’t see them bringing back any of the RB on this list. Jones and Jackson are both names to watch, as Zay Jones showed up at the end of the year and Jackson still showed big play-ability.

I would look for anyone who is currently under contract to be a cap causality at this point, but if there is anyone I would look toward Clelin Ferrell who holds a 4.7MM base, but a cap hit of 9.9MM which is all dead cap. So a trade could be in the works, Ferrell is not even close to being worth the 9.9MM cap hit to the current team.

Who could come back?

As far as who on this list could come back I would look at Hankins, Thomas, Jones, Jackson, and Martin. Morrow would be a tough call at this moment with other needs and current cap space, as he could ask for a high dollar amount on a team where cutting big into the cap for just Morrow would not make sense moving forward.

There is plenty of RB in FA and the Draft, with the mix of Jacobs and Drake it makes the well-traveled Barber a surplus. K.J. Wright may ask for more money than he would be worth to the Raiders at the moment, due to his age and combined with cheaper options in the draft.

This looks to be a Raiders team who even though they made the playoffs; would look to jettison several players who are under contracts or are currently free agents.

It is hard to tell with the new front office, and Josh McDaniels which way they will go on defense. I expect them to continue the 3-4 system. As for the offense, he is considered a guru in this area, though his last head coaching gig showed that was not the case. So, I would look for more defensive players to be retained than offensive. With the new GM and HC wanting to mold the Radiers into a team they can put their stamp of approval on.

No matter how this off-season shakes out I would expect the starting defense for the Raiders in 2022 to have several new names.

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