The general consensus is that the Las Vegas Raiders had a strong offseason. They addressed one of their biggest needs with the addition of Christian Wilkins and they used the No. 13 pick on arguably the best pass catcher in the draft in Brock Bowers.
Still, not everyone is happy with the moves the Raiders made. In fact, some hated the decisions that new GM Tom Telesco made in his first year with the team.
In a recent article by Seth Walder of ESPN, he graded all 32 team’s offseason moves and ranked them from 1-32. The Raiders came in at No. 31 with a grade of a “D”, just one spot ahead of the Saints. Here is a snippet of why Walder did not like the offseason plan by Las Vegas:
First, they failed to secure a long-term solution (or even a long-term hope) at quarterback, though I don’t knock them too heavily for that. Vegas entered the offseason in an unenviable position of needing a quarterback, not having the roster to support a major signing like Kirk Cousins and drafting last among a slew of QB-needy teams.
The Raiders could have traded up, but it would have been for one of the second-tier quarterbacks. In lieu of a long-term solution, they paid a non-trivial $15 million guaranteed to Gardner Minshew, though he’s coming off a solid season in Indianapolis.
Instead, the real issue was what they didn’t do within the context of not securing a quarterback. The team needed to recognize its noncontender status and should have shifted its focus into acquiring resources to set itself up nicely for when it can acquire a quarterback and become a contender again.
It is true that the Raiders were unable to find their next franchise quarterback, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The Raiders were active in pre-draft trades, trying to move up into the top 10 to select a quarterback. Unfortunately, nothing ever materialized, and the Raiders were stuck at the end of a quarterback run in Round 1.
Walder also didn’t like the addition of Wilkins, believing the Raiders overpaid for the veteran defensive tackle. There were also some questions about not trading away other veterans for picks, but it is interesting to see a different perspective on their offseason.
Time will tell if the Raiders or Walder were right and it won’t take long to see the result. With training camp just over a month away, we will soon get to see all of the new players in action in Las Vegas.
