Oakland Raiders: A Few Names To Keep, A Few To Dump Ahead Of 2018
By Kevin Saito
With the offseason rapidly approaching, the Oakland Raiders are going to have some tough decisions to make on the roster – here are a few names to keep and a few to dump ahead of 2018.
The Oakland Raiders have been an overwhelming disappointment this season. Yeah, that’s probably a kinder than deserved way of saying they’ve really stunk up the joint in 2017.
Or, to put it more succinctly – and in the words of tight end Lee Smith – the Raiders have really “pissed on their own leg.” It’s a sentiment though, that can be more accurately applied not to just one particular game, but to the entirety of the season.
A season that began with, what we all thought was legitimate Super Bowl buzz at the beginning of the season, has devolved into a series of flat performances, terrible losses, and a regression from some of Oakland’s key players – Derek Carr and Amari Cooper, chief among them.
All of the inconsistent – and let’s be honest, horrid – play this year has amounted to a 6-8 record, and all but mathematical elimination from the playoff hunt with two games remaining on the year.
Yeah, a Raiders bandwagon that was loaded down with more bodies than a public bus in India, during rush hour, is suddenly a lot more roomy. Safe to say, you can probably stretch those legs out right about now.
So, with the team basically playing out the string and looking ahead to 2018, the Raiders are going to have some tough decisions to make. And some that – well – really shouldn’t be all that tough to make.
Given that there isn’t a lot to play for, other than drafting order, at this point, the team should take a look at some of the younger talent on the roster to see what they have in them to better make informed decisions about the roster next season – like, say, Shalom Luani?
With a mega-deal for Khalil Mack a no-brainer, the team is going to have to be creative in how they work the cap, and there won’t be nearly as much money to work with as they’ve had in seasons past. Luckily, they have some high dollar deals that are either expiring or could come off the books.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few guys the Raiders should give strong consideration to keeping and dumping as they shape the roster for next season…