Oakland Raiders Could Benefit From A Disgruntled Janoris Jenkins

The Oakland Raiders have a pressing need at cornerback and a ton of cash to throw at the problem – something they may well have to do to land a top cornerback.

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One of the most pressing issues the Oakland Raiders are going to have to address this offseason is the state of their secondary – which, to put it bluntly, was pretty horrid. Though they seemed to get better as the season wore on – thanks primarily to the addition of Washington castoff David Amerson – the unit still gave up almost 260 yards per game. Oakland needs to add a solid, established piece to pair with Amerson in Oakland’s defensive backfield to improve the unit. But to get that piece, McKenzie is going to have to do something he’s proven loathe to do – pony up some big cash.

Let’s be real here for a minute. The likelihood that the Carolina Panthers allow Josh Norman to escape and hit the open market hovers somewhere around incredibly slim to none. He’s widely considered the best cornerback with an expiring contract, but Carolina – if they can’t work out a long term deal with him – is going to slap him with the franchise tag. You can make bank on that.

So what then, are the Raiders to do?

The Raiders have to then turn their attention to the next tier of pending free agents and among those, Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins looks to be among the best. It’s looking increasingly likely that the Rams are going to use the franchise tag on Jenkins’ mate in the defensive backfield, Trumaine Johnson – who had an oustanding 2015 with seven picks, seventeen passes defensed, and one defensive touchdown.

And if the Rams do indeed tag Johnson, it comes with a near $14 million dollar payday. And it’s something that isn’t sitting well with Jenkins, who feels that he’s had a hand in Johnson’s success and should be rewarded for it. Jenkins, as many do, made his feelings known via Twitter.

Jenkins feels that the Rams have disrespected him with a lowball offer that was reportedly in the neighborhood of five years and $45 million dollars. Of course, nine million dollars a year is nothing to sneeze at for mere mortals like us, but Jenkins feels he deserves – and has earned – a better payday. And maybe he has.

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With ten interceptions – five of which have been returned for touchdowns – and 48 total passes defensed over his four seasons with the Rams, Jenkins has been rock steady in their defensive backfield. Paired together, Jenkins and Johnson formed one of the better cornerback tandems in the league.

Some are reporting that Jenkins is looking for a payday somewhere in the neighborhood of $14 million per season – likely with a substantial amount of money guaranteed. The questions then become – with Jenkins already feeling disrespected by the Rams, are his feelings bitter enough that he would seriously consider putting on another jersey?

One would have to guess that if the price was right, Jenkins wouldn’t mind cashing a paycheck with another team’s logo on it.

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The Raiders have more than $74 million in cap space at their disposal – with a mandate to spend at least $42 million of that number. Though with some of Oakland’s other foundation players like Derek Carr, Khalil Mack, Gabe Jackson, Latavius Murray, and Justin Ellis looking at needing a contract extension in the not too distant future, McKenzie must be smart about how he spends that money.

But at 27 years old, Jenkins is still in his prime and has shown the ability to be a lockdown corner. Paired with Amerson in Oakland’s defensive backfield, Jenkins would improve their secondary overnight and would give the team a cornerback tandem that could help elevate the defense to another level.

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While the Raiders have a lot of money at their disposal, they still have to be smart about how they use it. Cornerback isn’t a position they can afford to skimp on. If McKenzie wants to help this team achieve some of HC Jack Del Rio‘s lofty goals for the 2016 season, he’s going to need to pony up some big cash for a few big time players.

Assuming that the Rams do as expected and tag Johnson, McKenzie should go after Jenkins as aggressively as he possibly because he can be a real difference maker to this defense.