Since taking over as the Oakland Raiders GM last year, Reggie McKenzie has parted with 26 players from their 2011 roster and is expected to continue that trend into 2013.
Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle put together a great look at a number of changes that are likely to take place during the upcoming offseason.
Tafur specifically mentions that DT Richard Seymour and P Shane Lechler are almost certain to be allowed to leave via free agency and DT Tommy Kelly and WR Darrius Heyward-Bey could be cut in order to free up some much needed cap space.
Tafur adds that McKenzie and HC Dennis Allen would like bring back LB Philip Wheeler and DE Andre Carter, but would most likely only consider re-signing DT Desmond Bryant and TE Brandon Myers “at the right price.”
One other interesting note provided by Tafur; the Raiders apparently see QB Carson Palmer as “core player,” but this is mainly due to the cap repercussions that would come from releasing and the fact they don’t have a reasonable replacement for him on their roster at this point in time.
Oakland is projected to be very close to the salary cap as things stand right now, so it makes sense that they would consider shedding some salary in order for them to keep some of these players.
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It looks like their entire secondary are free agents! It’ll take 5-8 years to undo all the personnel mistakes this team has made over the last 10 years. They’re stuck with Carson Palmer whether they want to be or not, and the lack of draft picks and money are going to prevent them from putting a good team around him. It’s also going to prevent them from attracting a decent coach. Who’s going to want to take of this mess?
man, this team is a mess right now