The Oakland Raiders infamously cleaned house last season before finishing the year in the cellar of the AFC West division. However, Oakland has wasted absolutely no time in attempting to turn things around in a hurry, notably acquiring former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown via trade early on in the offseason.
As a result, the previously angry wideout may now have something to prove as a member of the once heralded franchise after officially moving on from his unhappiness in Pittsburgh, at least according to new Raiders general manager Mike Mayock:
Mayock said @AB84 “is a little pissed off and has something to prove, and we’re going to be the beneficiaries.” #Raiders
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) March 25, 2019
The Raiders have remained quite active in free agency outside of Brown, and they will certainly be a wild card come next month at the 2019 NFL Draft. Oakland appears to have a solid strategy in place, one that began as soon as the team was able to sign new players:
“The more you do in free agency, the more surgical you can be in the draft,” Mayock recently told ESPN.
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is certainly on the same page as Mayock, as they have gotten off to quite the start in Oakland:
“We've gotten better, we have some resources in the draft that can continue that process and as I've said all along, I don’t think you can rush this,” Gruden said, via ESPN. “You have to do what you deem is right. Players don't become available all the time. You can't make all the necessary improvements. It takes a little bit of time. But we're confident that we're heading in the right direction.”
While Antonio Brown definitely has the talent, it remains to be seen as to whether the Raiders have put enough around him in order to be immediately successful.
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