Report: Marcel Reece Wants Oakland Raiders To Be Hyper-Aggressive In Free Agency

Jared Allen could be an attractive target for the Oakland Raiders in free agency, as they have a need to upgrade their pass rush off the edge. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

According to a report, Oakland Raiders fullback Marcel Reece has been doing his part in helping to recruit talent to the club and now he wants general manager Reggie McKenzie to put on a full-court press.

Before he was honored at the annual Commitment to Excellence dinner Saturday night, Reece told CSNBayArea.com that McKenzie needs to be “fearless” in his approach to adding talent to the roster.

"“I want him to be fearless. I don’t want him to worry about anyone else. Let’s go for it right now. That’s what I’m looking forward to. No safe moves. I don’t want those. I want smart, calculated, fearless, Raider-ass moves. We want guys committed to winning. That’s what we want to do. We want to win right now.”"

The Raiders haven’t sniffed the postseason since advancing to the Super Bowl following the 2002 season and their 53-123 record since 2003 is the worst in the NFL, two games worse than the Detroit Lions and three below the Cleveland Browns.

McKenzie has said he wants to be smart despite having an enormous amount of cap space, the result of two years of moves calculated at ridding the roster of past personnel mistakes.

"“I want to make this team better and that’s what we’re going to set out to do this Tuesday and throughout the offseason,” McKenzie said. “We aren’t waiting until Tuesday. We’ve been trying to set things out and get things done. We want to upgrade this football team and we’re determined to do that.”"

The Raiders have 17 unrestricted free agents, including left tackle Jared Veldheer, defensive end Lamarr Houston, running backs Rashad Jennings and Darren McFadden, safety Charles Woodson and cornerback Tracy Porter.

With almost $65 million available under the cap, the Raiders could stand to upgrade just about everywhere, but in particular on the defensive line—where all four starters are free agents—and in the secondary. The team may also look to bring in a veteran quarterback while they try to identify the face of the future at the position, with Josh Freeman and Josh McCown having been rumored as targets, as well as Mark Sanchez, if he is released by the New York Jets.

Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings could be an intriguing target to strengthen the Raiders edge pass rush.

But some amount of caution on McKenzie’s part is prudent; while the Raiders have the most cap space to use, they also have perhaps more spots to fill than any team in the NFL.