ALAMEDA, Calif. — It’s been a whirlwind start of the 2016 league year for the Oakland Raiders, who made good on head coach Jack Del Rio’s Combine promise of “attacking” free agency and are already considered in some quarters as dark-horse contenders for a division title.
Should the Raiders fall short of that, going from seven wins to 10 and getting a wild-card berth — and thus a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2002 — seems to be a reasonable goal.
And Del Rio, while always stressing the amount of work to be done, is not shy about articulating the vision.
“We have a goal, we’re on a mission, this is just a natural progression of where it needs to go,” Del Rio said. “We laid out some goals and things last year, became a competitive team, established a healthy culture, expectations have been raised.”
What the Raiders did during free agency went against a lot of what general manager Reggie McKenzie learned as the right-hand man for Ted Thompson as a Green Bay executive.
McKenzie is rooted in the belief that a franchise is built through the draft, and indeed the Raiders have a number of foundational pieces from the last two seasons such as quarterback Derek Carr, edge rusher Khalil Mack, guard Gabe Jackson, wide receiver Amari Cooper, defensive end Mario Edwards Jr., tight end Clive Walford and defensive tackle Justin Ellis.
But the Raiders needed more than that, and McKenzie has embraced going aggressively after free agents he and Del Rio felt could hit the ground running.
This year, the Raiders quickly struck for Baltimore guard Kelechi Osemele, cornerback Sean Smith and linebacker Bruce Irvin for big money and later brought back two of their own — left tackle Donald Penn as well as suspended outside linebacker Aldon Smith.
The three free agents are all in their prime, similar to additions last season of center Rodney Hudson, defensive tackle Dan Williams, wide receiver Michael Crabtree, linebacker Malcolm Smith and blocking tight end Lee Smith.
As for the money, overpayment is simply a part of the system and McKenzie had to convince himself to simply pay the going rate. He had plenty of salary-cap room, having spent the better part of his first two seasons clearing the decks of bad contracts from the previous regime.
Osemele, for example, received a five-year contract worth more than $58 million, with $25.4 million guaranteed — the biggest sum ever paid to a guard.
But with the 28th-ranked rushing attack in the NFL and a shared belief with Del Rio that big people matter, the 330-pound power blocker was considered a must-get.
“The bottom line is he’s a good football player and you’ve got to pay for the good football players,” McKenzie said. “That’s just the way it goes. Any time you play in the free-agency market, money is going to be involved, so you’ve just got to set your mind to it and that’s the way it is.”
McKenzie conceded the big money has essentially been doled out, but the Raiders aren’t finished by any means.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Del Rio said. “We just got started. I don’t feel we’re sending any signal other than recognizing needs and desires to acquire good players. If you take a look at (Osemele, Smith and Irvin), those three guys fill some major areas of need, but we still have work to do.”
Most notably, the Raiders remain thin in the secondary, especially at safety and need another running back to step in with Latavius Murray. But a common theme on the Del Rio Raiders has been adding as many good players at all positions and letting competition sort out the 53-man roster.