Since signing Derek Carr to a five-year, $125 million deal in 2017, the Raiders have shown a real commitment to spending money on their offense. As of the first week of June, a little more than $110 million of the Raiders’ 2019 salary cap figure has been dedicated to offensive players and just under $59 million has been allocated to the defense.
As for the positional breakdown, it is interesting to see where Jon Gruden and company have placed the most emphasis over the past 16 months. Let’s take a look at where the Raiders rank next to the other 31 teams in terms of positional spending.
(All cap figures come courtesy of Spotrac.com)
Offense: $110M (5/32)
Carr, Antonio Brown, Trent Brown, Tyrell Williams, and Rodney Hudson account for about $73 million of the Raiders $110 million being spent on offense. No complaints (as of now) when it comes to paying big money to those five players.
Quarterbacks: $25.01M (13/32)
Remember when everyone was freaking out about the Raiders breaking the bank for Carr? As of the first week of June, the Raiders are paying their quarterback room less than what 12 teams are paying theirs. Among the teams currently spending more on quarterbacks than the Raiders right now are the Redskins, Vikings, Lions, Giants, and Panthers.
Running Backs: $6.39M (21/32)
Gruden has invested heavily in young running backs. Some of that was by design, but losing Isaiah Crowell for the season was not part of the plan. It was interesting that Gruden immediately jumped on Doug Martin after the Crowell injury and not Marshawn Lynch – who is reportedly willing to return to the Raiders if the team is interested. It shouldn’t take a Robert Mueller investigation to figure out that the Raiders have moved on from Beast Mode.
Fullbacks: $1.99M (3/32)
Most teams don’t utilize a fullback so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Now let’s see if the Raiders can utilize a fullback correctly.
Wide Receivers: $32.19M (4/32)
The Raiders went from having the weakest wide receiver room in the NFL to having one of the best. Brown and Williams account for more than $25 million of the $32.19 million the Raiders are right now spending on wide receivers. In former Raider news… rumor is, Amari Cooper is wanting the Cowboys to give him a deal comparable to what Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown signed a few months ago. Have fun with that, Dallas.
Tight Ends: $4.91M (29/32)
Losing Jared Cook took a huge chunk out of the Raiders payroll at tight end, but it was absolutely by design. The Raiders never even offered him a new contract. The Raiders are obviously high on a few guys in the tight end room because releasing Lee Smith was a bit of a surprise.
Offensive Line: $43.16M (7/32)
Gruden has been determined to build his offensive line, even at the expense of some questionable drafting a year ago. If Trent Brown and Kolton Miller can be above average, the Raiders offensive line will be among the best in the league. And it’s going to need to be because the AFC West is filled to the brim with elite pass rushers.
Offensive Tackles: $21.94M (9/32)
Trent Brown makes up more than $15 million of the Raiders $21.94 million spent on offensive tackles. Rumor has it no one came particularly close to matching the Raiders’ offer for Brown, but arguably no team in the league needed stability at offensive tackle more than the Raiders. So the decision to go all-in on Brown made sense.
Guards: $11.19M (20/32)
Dumping Kelechi Osemele dropped this number significantly and the Raiders believe they are getting an upgrade in Richie Incognito. The question now… how many games will Incognito have to sit out with a suspension that most believe is presently in the works – more than likely only a game or two. Gabe Jackson is a $7 million hit, but he could still be one of the top guards in the league if he can put it together and stay healthy.
Center: $10.01M (6/32)
There might not be a better center in football than Rodney Hudson. Give him all the money.
twitter: @raidersbeat
