Oakland Raiders: 6 Questions the Team Must Answer Quickly

Jan 16, 2015; Alameda, CA, USA;

(center) poses with Oakland Raiders general manager

(left) and owner Mark Davis and Raiders jersey at press conference to announce his hiring as Raiders head coach at the Raiders practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

We’re only a few short days away from the “official” start to the crazed feeding frenzy that is free agency in the NFL. Though, given the fact that teams may begin to negotiate with pending free agents this Saturday, the real action is going to get rolling sooner than that. Signing on the dotted line next Tuesday, in a lot of cases, is just a formality.

Armed with a pile of cash that’s second only to the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason, plenty of holes on the roster to fill, and a checklist of players they want to pursue, Reggie McKenzie, Jack Del Rio, and the Oakland Raiders expect to be busy from the word “go.”

McKenzie and the Raiders are going to be aggressive during this free agency period. The plan, according to McKenzie, unlike seasons past, is not to go out and grab “role players” this time out. This year, the Raiders are going to be looking for “impact” players.

That’s good news for Raiders’ fans – fans desperate for a winning season and perhaps even a playoff berth – who are looking for the team to add some A-level talent to the team.

With a new head coach who, unlike some of his predecessors, seems to have an actual plan for success in place, several foundational building blocks in Derek Carr, Khalil Mack, Justin Ellis, and Travis Carrie, along with veteran “glue guys” like Justin Tuck, James Jones and Charles Woodson, there is an abundance of hope and optimism in the Bay Area.

But before the team can do anything, they have a number of questions yet to answer. Here are just a few…

Next: Question #1 - Stefen Wisniewski