The Raiders were reportedly one of the final teams in the mix to acquire Richard Sherman before he signed with the 49ers.
According to Peter King of theMMQB.com, the teams most serious about signing Sherman were the 49ers, Raiders, Lions, and Seahawks.
The reason, according to King, that the Raiders balked at Sherman was salary cap space – Reggie McKenzie evidently told Sherman the Raiders didn’t have enough cap room.
Sherman’s deal was also too rich for a handful of other teams, but if the Raiders can’t afford Sherman, how are they going to be able to afford Trumaine Johnson or another top free agent?
The Raiders have a number of their own free agents they would like to bring back and as of now, the team has around $17 million in available cap space – with as many as 11 draft in line to gobble up some that money.
Sean Smith is expected to be released in the coming days which would free up $8.5 million, but a number of other veterans are sitting on the “bubble” as of now.
Between Marshawn Lynch, Michael Crabtree, Jared Cook, and Seth Roberts, the Raiders can dump close to another $20 million if necessary.
The Raiders can happily part with any of the names above (without penalty) now or later, but if the plan is to be aggressive in free agency, the moving and shaking is going to have to start sooner than later.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Super, mega, genius McKenzie can’t sign any top free agents because the team has misused all of the other cap money on a roster that’s barely mediocre……a defense that’s probably a bottom-5 ranked unit. I guess it’s back to the draft. Looks like we’ll be fielding a bunch of rookies and UDFA’s again.
F McKenzie! He hasn’t done a **** thing right since the 2014 draft!
crabtree and lynch should have been long gone
and king, penn, and walford and jared cook better start packing their bags also
time to clean house