The Las Vegas Raiders entered the offseason in search of an identity. But also a General Manager and Head Coach.
After a strong finish, including a win over the eventual Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs, interim HC Antonio Pierce was hired to restore the Raiders to their former glory.
While the defense played well enough to win games, the bigger problem was the offense. And that’s concerning, considering it features some fantasy football studs in the way of Davante Adams, Josh Jacobs, and Jakobi Meyers.
When looking at how we can fix this offense to better help fantasy football managers in 2024, the obvious answer is to find a quarterback.
The deeper answer lies in how to keep this offense strong for future seasons. Let’s look at the first big move the Raiders made with this idea in mind.
Luke Getsy is the Raiders’ new Offensive Coordinator.
In short, it’s a questionable hire. And it’s fair to say that Getsy wasn’t even the Raider’s first choice. Las Vegas had bagged former Arizona Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury as their OC until they didn’t. Kingsbury later accepted the OC position with the Washington Commanders, and the Raiders settled with Getsy.
So what exactly did Luke Getsy do to convince the Raiders brass he deserved to be their offensive coordinator? Getsy’s offenses in Chicago were uneven, at best. The Chicago Bears finished 20th in total offense in 2023, including 27th in passing offense. Their saving grace was the 2nd-best rushing offense in the league, led by QB Justin Fields and his 657 rushing yards (2nd among QBs).
The good news? Those numbers are improvements over 2022 when he helmed the league’s worst passing offense and 28th worst total offense. And the Bears were the number-one rushing offense in 2022.
So you bring in an offensive coordinator who knows how to run the football. You have a head coach who is defensive-minded and wants to hit you in the mouth. Any guesses on how the Raiders are likely to build their team in 2024? Let’s start with the salary cap.
Las Vegas has money to spend
The league recently announced the salary cap would sit at $255.4 million for the 2024 season. That gave the Raiders even more wiggle room this offseason. They currently sit at approximately $42.9 million under the cap. And that number could grow to over $70 million once the team releases QB Jimmy Garoppolo with a post-June 1st designation, saving themselves $24.07 million in the process, and potentially WR Hunter Renfrow.
If we operate under the assumption that the Raiders want to be a dominant rushing offense and play good defense, it’s safe to say most of their available cap space will go toward the defensive side of the ball and the offensive line.
Since we talk offense around these parts, that’s the side of the ball I’m going to focus on in this piece.
The Raiders have some free agents to re-sign
Three-fifths of the Raider’s offensive line is slated to hit free agency this offseason. One of those is starting Center Andre James. James had a solid 2023, playing the best football of his career. He’ll be 27 and in line for a contract that will likely pay him like a top-five center in the league.
Given James’ age and the Raiders’ desire to run the football, giving James a new deal feels like a foregone conclusion. Good centers don’t grow on trees, and every team needs an anchor on their line. And if I were James’ agent, I’d be using the 5-year, $60 million extension that the Saints gave to Erik McCoy as the starting point in negotiations.
With James signed, they’ll need to find a right guard and a right tackle. Those will come a little later via the Draft and bargain bin shopping after the first wave of free agency. The next big move is to re-sign RB Josh Jacobs.
Re-signing Josh Jacobs should be a top priority.
Jacobs is 25 years old; he is a dying breed when it comes to workhorse running backs, and he is a leader on this team. Everything that Antonio Pierce has said this offseason makes me think that he wants his leaders in place and ready to lead. On offense, those leaders are Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs. And only one of those two is a free agent.
Yes, Jacobs had a down 2023, finishing as the RB18 in PPG in fantasy football. That was after logging almost 400 touches and over 2,000 total yards in 2022, good for an RB3 finish. One could argue the amount of carries from the previous year took its toll. Others may argue his contract stalemate in the offseason distracted his preparation for 2023.
Yes, teams have been reluctant to pay top dollar for running backs in recent years. And after paying Jacobs $11.7 million in 2023 for 1,101 total yards and six touchdowns, it’s probably unrealistic of me to think the Raiders will line up to pay Jacobs when they wouldn’t give him a multi-year deal last offseason.
But this is a new head coach, a new general manager, and a new offensive coordinator. They should want Jacobs in the fold for 2024 and beyond. More to the point, they need Jacobs for 2024 and beyond. A three-year deal for $30 million would allow Jacobs to hit free agency once more before he turns 30 and give the Raiders a viable threat in their run-first offense.
Who will be the Raiders’ QB in 2024?
The Raiders benched Jimmy Garoppolo last season, paving the way for 4th round pick Aidan O’Connell to get some needed playing time. O’Connell didn’t exactly light the league on fire, and more often than not, the Raiders were winning games in spite of him. But when there was a game against Miami where he tossed three interceptions, there was a game against the Chargers where he threw four touchdown passes.
O’Connell threw for over 240 yards in five of his ten starts. He also finished the season with 8 TDs and 0 INTs over his last four games, leading the Raiders to a 3-1 record. All that leaves the Raiders with the question of whether they can go into 2024 with O’Connell as their starting QB and feel they can compete.
What should be noted: O’Connell will be a 26-year-old 2nd-year player. He is who he is and isn’t likely to improve much over the next few years. And if Luke Getsy has proven anything as the former OC of the Bears, he hasn’t exactly worked wonders with young quarterbacks.
On the February 14th episode of No Punt Intended, my co-host Ryan Weisse talked about the possibility of the Raiders signing free agent QB Gardner Minshew to lead the team for 2024. He was a respectable starter for the Colts while filling in for the injured Anthony Richardson and knows how to manage games. He’s also really good at handing the ball off to excellent RBs.
If the Raiders go the veteran QB route, Minshew or Jacoby Brissett make a ton of sense as bridge QBs. The Raiders currently sit at 13th in the 2024 NFL Draft. Could that be a spot for a Tier 2 rookie QB?
Tom Telesco’s History as a GM…
Signing a veteran QB shouldn’t and wouldn’t preclude a team from trading up in the NFL Draft to secure one of the top options. What would stop them is the price to move up in the draft to do so.
But trading up isn’t something the new GM, Tom Telesco, has a history of doing. Only once over his 11 seasons as the Chargers GM did he trade up in the first round. What Telesco does do, however, is take the best player available, regardless of position. And in half of those drafts, that player was an offensive or defensive lineman.
Yes, sometimes, team needs will outweigh the “best player available” approach. If J.J. McCarthy were to fall to 13, I would be shocked if Telesco doesn’t take him. But let’s operate under the assumption that McCarthy is gone before 13. Which position is likely to field the best player available?
Looking at Daniel Jeremiah’s top 50 prospects in the NFL Draft, two players on the defensive side of the ball stand out — Alabama CB Terrion Arnold and Alabama EDGE Dallas Turner. Depth, however, lies at WR and on the offensive line. With Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers in place, bank on an offensive lineman being the pick for the Raiders come April 25th.
And seeing as how the Raiders need a right tackle in this scenario, Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga and Alabama’s JC Latham should be targets for Telesco.
Will all of this be enough?
When you have Davante Adams on your offense, just find someone who can get him the ball and let him do the rest. The Raiders’ offense was pretty mid in 2022, and it yielded some elite fantasy options. After a disappointing 2023, we still got a solid season from Adams and a breakout season from Jakobi Meyers.
Luke Getsy will have something he didn’t have in Chicago the last two years — two quality options with whom to throw the football. What will be reminiscent of his time in Chicago is finding a quality option to throw said football. But re-signing Josh Jacobs gives him a reason to run the football more, and his backs in Chicago did that pretty damn well, despite a poor offensive line.
If the Raiders make the moves listed in this piece, it’s not unreasonable to believe Josh Jacobs will return to being a top 5 RB, Davante Adams will be a top ten WR, and Jakobi Meyers will remain a top 30 WR. What might be a surprise and something I’ll happily start the buzz on — can Michael Mayer be this year’s Cole Kmet and provide some TD upside?
But it all starts at QB. And we should all be rooting for the next Las Vegas residency to feature Minshew Mania.
Be sure you’re following Josh Hudson on Twitter. You can also find more of his Club Fantasy work here, including a few other Fixer Uppers!
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