john spytek
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Las Vegas Raiders GM John Spytek.
The Las Vegas Raiders came into the offseason with some of the most salary cap space in the NFL, and they certainly spent it. They handed out some massive free agent contracts.
They thought they were going to have even more salary cap space when they agreed to trade star defensive end Maxx Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens, but they pulled out of the deal after the Raiders had already agreed to terms with a bunch of free agents.
The team now doesn’t have much money left to spend, especially after signing quarterback Kirk Cousins. They still have to pay their eventual draft picks and undrafted free agent signings. That’s going to put the team up against the salary cap, so they may need to think about freeing up some money.
According to The Athletic’s Mike Sando, one NFL executive thinks the Raiders are going ot have to trade another player away.
“They will probably wind up trading someone else as a result (to move salary and add picks),” an executive told Sando.
The problem with what the executive is suggesting is that most of the Raiders’ highest-paid players were signed to contracts this offseason. Trading safety Jeremy Chinn could be one move to free up salary cap, but the team is already thin at the position. The more likely outcome is the Raiders trying to get creative with Crosby or Kolton Miller’s contracts and pushing some money down the road.
One Exec Thinks Raiders Should Still Trade Crosby
The Raiders didn’t want to trade Crosby to begin with, but bringing him back on the books does complicate some things. There’s one executive who understands why Las Vegas likely won’t trade the star pass rusher, but believes that they probably should.
“They should because the windows don’t match up for them being good and Crosby making what he is making,” another exec told Sando. “But I don’t think they want to be perceived as being taken advantage of again, and so I don’t think they will do that.”
Tyler Linderbaum Signing Justified
The biggest signing the Raiders made in the offseason was giving a record-breaking three-year, $81 million contract to Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum. That contract reset the center market in a major way.
Linderbaum is one of the top centers in the NFL, but a lot of people thought the Raiders paid too much. However, one executive Sando spoke to defended the Raiders’ decision to give him that contract.
“Linderbaum is one of the blue-level players at that position, the best of the best,” a different exec told Sando, “so if you are going to do it and you want to say he is as valuable as a guard, that is fine because you are going to have a rookie quarterback underneath him. ‘We are going to overspend by $3-4 million to help our No. 1 draft choice, who is hopefully going to change this franchise.’ That is why you make this move.”
If Linderbaum continues his Pro Bowl-level play, the Raiders won’t have any regrets about the deal.