The Oakland Raiders entered free agency with over $55 million in cap room. General manager Reggie McKenzie was expected to make serious runs at defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and receiver Randall Cobb, perhaps even the favorite to land the duo. Instead, Oakland has been outdone by the other 31 teams, leaving it in terrible position.
The Raiders have signed center Rodney Hudson to a five-year, $44.5 million deal and running back Roy Helu, along with blocking tight end Lee Smith for three years and $9 million. Hudson is a quality player, but not worth being made the highest-paid center in the league. Helu and Smith are spare parts, and the trio is not going to make much of a dent in Oakland’s playoff drought, which stretches to 2003.
On the defensive side, Curtis Lofton and Dan Williams are nice signings. Lofton is a bit past his prime but still effective and a leader, while Williams provides a nice run-stuffer inside. However, neither provide the major impact needed for Oakland to see a significant jump in record.
The Raiders are in a brutal spot. They need to spend to the cap floor, but most of the impact free agents are off the board. Oakland might be forced to sign a bunch of mediocre players to large contracts, just to satisfy the requirements of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement.
McKenzie has nobody to blame but himself for this. The Raiders had a boatload of cap space last year as well, and missed with awful signings in Matt Schaub, Maurice Jones-Drew, Darren McFadden, LaMarr Woodley, Carlos Rogers, Tarell Brown and Justin Tuck. Only Tuck is expected to return in 2015, showing how badly McKenzie missed the mark.
In the loaded AFC West, the Raiders are staring at another fourth-place finish even with a quality coach like Jack Del Rio at the helm. Barring a miracle, Oakland is about to endure another rough campaign in front of a disheartened Black Hole.
