Training camp is under way and the NFL offseason is finally in the rear view. It’s been a busy seven months for the Raiders, but the buildup for Antonio’s Pierce’s first season as full-time head coach has lived up to expectations.
The pads will be on for the first time on Tuesday, but before the hitting starts, let’s take a look at five storylines that have been swirling around the Raiders for past several months.
Did the Raiders low ball Josh Jacobs in free agency?
There has been a lot of talk around Jacobs since the start of free agency, and a good amount of those quotes and storylines have come from the player himself. Jacobs accused the Raiders of wanting him to come back on a “discounted” deal, but it sounds like that is exactly what he took from the Packers.
According to an ESPN report this week, Jacobs took upwards of $4 million less to sign with the Packers. The report didn’t indicate whether the better offer (or offers) came from the Raiders, but we have enough information at this point to comfortably assume Jacobs is where he wants to be in Green Bay.
Has there been any truth to the Davante Adams trade rumors?
The offseason doesn’t provide a great deal of NFL content, but trade rumors around Davante Adams are always in season. Boomer Esiason, among others, believes Adams will be traded to the Jets before the 2024 trade deadline.
“I’m hearing — that this is going to happen, if it does happen — somewhere in late August, early September,” Esiason said. “I’m not sure about why it would take that long… Davante is never going to come out publicly and say, ‘I want to leave the Raiders,’” Esiason said. “But you do hear in this wide receiver program [“Receiver” on Netflix], where he does this, ‘I got to get out of here before I get killed.’ He says that. That leads the viewer to believe that he wants out of Vegas.”
Davante’s offseason comments, combined with speculation from a variety of NFL pundits, led his agent to call the rumors “baseless” and said there has been no trade talks around Adams whatsoever.
For now, Adams seems to be happy. Last year, it looked like he wasn’t. If things don’t go well for Aidan O’Connell and/or Gardner Minshew to start the season, it’s certainly fair to wonder if Adams could get restless again… and potentially push for a trade.
Who is winning the Raiders quarterback competition?
There will be a quarterback competition, but it feels like the team is expecting O’Connell to be the week 1 starter.
O’Connell doesn’t have as many NFL reps as Minshew, but that might play in his favor. After five NFL seasons, the Raiders should have a good indication of what they have in Minshew. O’Connell is a player that some in the building believe could be one of the better quarterbacks in the league.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter has been pointing to O’Connell as the likely starter for several months and he explained his thought process last week.
“The fact that a tie goes to Aidan, there’s no joint practices, and you don’t really know what you’re facing in preseason, I think the cards are stacked in Aidan O’Connell’s favor,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast.
Should the Raiders be concerned that they gave Patrick Mahomes unnecessary motivation with the Kermit the Frog video?
It seemed obvious that head coach Antonio Pierce didn’t want to give the Chiefs any unnecessary motivation going into the season, but this is who the Raiders are now.
It was a rookie that gave the Chiefs bulletin material in July, but you can bet Pierce isn’t going to back down from talking during the season.
Mahomes is going to be at his best against the Raiders regardless of what happens in training camp. It was fun to talk about for a day, but no one really cares about the frog.
Also, Raider fans have been mocking the way Mahomes talks for years.
Does Antonio Pierce only have a two-year deal with the Raiders?
The team isn’t going to get into the specifics of Pierce’s contract, but according to team insider Vic Tafur, the Raiders may have only given Pierce a two-year deal.
“Pierce, by most accounts, has a two-year contract and is all-in to win as soon as possible,” Tafur reported last week in The Athletic.
The reason the length of the deal is a relevant detail is that it gives a clue into the level of confidence ownership has in Pierce. Jon Gruden got a 10-year deal because Mark Davis adored him. Josh McDaniels got a six-year deal because Mark Davis really wanted him. A two-year deal would suggest that Davis isn’t quite as enamored with Pierce as his predecessors.
To be fair, Tafur didn’t technically report that it was a two-year deal… he said “most accounts” believe that to be the case. Do with that what you want.
x: @raidersbeat