The Las Vegas Raiders already had a good amount of cap space left to play with, but after restructuring the contract of star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, Pete Carroll and his club upped their available cap to $59 million. What does a team do with that type of cap space entering the third week of March? Well, firstly, sign Christian Elliss to an offer sheet–that’s what the team did on Wednesday.
But perhaps something bigger is right around the corner.
An electric, big-play wide receiver is exactly what the Raiders need heading into the ’25 season. And, luckily for them, one such receiver happens to still be a free agent. The same player who not so long ago was working out with Geno Smith after he officially joined Sin City’s football team.
Of course, I’m talking about Stefon Diggs. But there is one small problem here–the New England Patriots are also in desperate need of an electric, big-play wideout. This is especially bad news for Las Vegas as Diggs spent his Wednesday visiting the Patriots in their home town of Foxborough.
A play on Diggs may not be in the works after all.
However, there is another big-play receiver currently making headlines for the picture he posted on Instagram, featuring himself standing alongside Raiders minority owner Tom Brady. That’s George Pickens, who even signed an NIL deal with Brady’s clothing line, BRADY.
Be that as it may, there doesn’t have to be a hidden message in Pickens’ picture. To many, Brady is the G.O.A.T.; plenty of players in today’s NFL grew up watching and idolizing him. To have a picture standing with Brady is what the kids call a flex.
Or, maybe Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders reworked Christian Wilkins’ deal in preparation for Geno Smith’s extension
A Geno Smith extension is all but inevitable. When Pete Carroll got his signal caller from Seattle back, he came with one year left on his contract. That being the case, the Seahawks tried to work out an extension this offseason to get their signal caller under contract for years to come.
Remaining in Seattle wasn’t what Smith wanted, however, leading to his refusal of any extension. That gave the Raiders an opportunity to swoop in and take a shoot at landing Geno, and that’s exactly what they did.
Before making the trade, though, Las Vegas’ general manager John Spytek and his team got in touch with Smith’s camp.
That’s what a team does when a player elsewhere requests a trade from their club–they get in touch with that player’s agent to talk about their desired contract and if the player would like to play for their team. That way the team trading for that player doesn’t end up in the same boat as the club that player is currently on, that now has to trade them because they don’t want to be there.
All that to say, the Raiders already had an idea of what Smith was looking for as it relates to an extension beforehand. And the pulling of the trigger on this deal means that number is, at worst, not unreasonable.
Carroll and Spytek didn’t trade for Geno Smith to have a one-year ride, after all.
But, the money was already in the budget to cover a Smith extension. So, while that is coming, perhaps it isn’t why the Christian Wilkins restructure took place.
Amari Cooper and Dionte Johnson are two other names that could make sense for the Raiders, too, if Las Vegas is indeed looking to add a more-explosive veteran wideout.
