It’s been a bad week for the Las Vegas Raiders following the news that Ben Johnson chose the Chicago Bears head coaching job. While the team doesn’t have a head coach, a quarterback or a general manager right now, they have plenty of assets to turn things around quickly.
Not only do the Raiders control all of their draft picks, but they also have an extra third-round pick they got from the New York Jets in the Davante Adams trade. Plus, they likely have more draft picks on the way.
Last offseason, the Raiders lost cornerback Amik Robertson to the Detroit Lions and Bilal Nichols to the Arizona Cardinals in free agency. Thanks to that, the team is eligible to get a couple of compensatory picks.
Over the Cap is now projecting that the Raiders will get two sixth-round picks for the losses of Nichols and Robertson. Those aren’t overly valuable picks but it’s always better to have more draft picks, especially when they don’t cost you anything.
If this projection is true, the Raiders will have 10 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft barring any trades. They will have a lot of assets to move if they want to trade up for a quarterback.
Future of the Raiders Is Unclear
The Raiders clearly didn’t have enough to convince Johnson to join the franchise but they should be an appealing destination for general manager candidates. The team is going to have over $90 million in salary cap space, 10 draft picks and the ability to build the roster how he wants to.
However, it’s impossible to know what to expect from the Raiders until they have a general manager. Las Vegas desperately needs a general manager who can draft well.
The Raiders have been marred by poor draft classes for two decades now and can’t afford to keep getting it wrong. Tom Telesco had a good first draft with the team but they still fired him. Perhaps drafting well isn’t going to be enough. Regardless, this is a difficult franchise to get a read on right now and Tom Brady appears to be running the show but hasn’t ever been in this position before.
Raiders Desperately Need a QB
If the Raiders even had a somewhat promising young quarterback on the roster, Johnson may be the head coach. The fact that he turned down Las Vegas just further shows how important it is to at least have hope at quarterback.
The Raiders were solid at the position for almost a decade with Derek Carr but they have done a horrific job replacing him. Signing Jimmy Garoppolo in 2023 and then signing Gardner Minshew in 2024 are two of the worst free agent signings of the last two years.
At some point, the Raiders have to address the position early in the draft. It might not be this year as it’s a weak quarterback class but they do need a plan in place. Until they get a major upgrade at quarterback, they aren’t going to win a lot of games regardless of who the head coach or general manager is.
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