The Las Vegas Raiders were one of the most disappointing teams in the league in the 2022 season. Now, heading into the NFL offseason, the team needs to make some big moves to become the team we all thought they’d be last year. With that in mind, here are a few bold Raiders offseason predictions that include Aaron Rodgers donning the Silver and Black.
4. Re-signing Raiders free-agent Josh Jacobs
The Raiders don’t have a ton of free agents to re-sign this NFL offseason, but they do have one huge one to figure out. Running back Josh Jacobs had a massive career year in 2022. He led the league with 1,653 yards rushing and in yards from scrimmage with 2,053. Jacobs also scored 12 touchdowns this season on his way to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams.
This Raiders offseason, the team is in an excellent spot financially. They have the fourth-most cap room in the league ($46.3 million), so even if they take a big swing at quarterback (hint hint), they should have room to re-sign Jacobs for the next few seasons.
Paying huge money for an RB in the NFL rarely works out, but the reason this is a bold Raiders offseason prediction is because, for Las Vegas, it makes sense. The team needs all the offensive weapons it can get to contend this season to make up for the struggles on defense.
Look for the Raiders to re-sign Josh Jacobs to a three or four-year deal that becomes tradeable or cut-able after two seasons. That is the window we’re working with in these bold Raiders offseason predictions.
3. The team drafts a defense
Speaking of the Raiders’ putrid defense — which finished 26th in scoring in 2022 — the unit needs to be a priority for the front office during the 2023 NFL offseason. The problem is most of the money (and maybe even the first-round pick) will go toward the offense.
That means the Raiders' Day 2 and Day 3 draft picks will be defense focused.
Outside of Maxx Crosby, Chandler Jones, and a few young players, the Raiders need help at every position across the defense. So, in the draft, the defensive rebuild starts with an underrated pass-rushing defensive tackle, Calijah Kancey, from Pitt.
Kancey is 6-foot-3, 275 pounds, and is excellent and knifing through gaps to stop running plays in the backfield and pressure the quarterback from the middle of the line. With Crosby and Jones on either side of him, Kancey will see tons of one-on-one matchups with the Raiders and turn the defensive front into a fearsome pass-rushing unit.
2. An Aaron Rodgers-Raiders trade
Now for the piece de resistance of these bold Raiders offseason predictions: Aaron Rodgers will be a Raider in 2023.
The Raiders trade the No. 7 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, a 2023 fourth, and a conditional 2024 fourth (that could become a second if the Raiders make the Super Bowl) to the Green Bay Packers for Aaron Rodgers.
It’s a move that reunited Rodgers with Davante Adams, the receiver he helped make great for seven seasons and who helped Rodgers win three of his NFL MVP Awards in the process. It also gives Rodgers the best combination of weapons he’s had in over a decade with Hunter Renfrow, Darren Waller, and Josh Jacobs (see above).
With above-average quarterback play, the Raiders can finally live up to the high expectations the team had a year ago when they traded for Adams and signed Jones. With Rodgers in the fold, the team will be a contender in the AFC.
And if things click the right way, they could even be true Super Bowl contenders.
1. The Raiders go all in for a two-year run
All these Raiders' offseason predictions have to be viewed through a lens of a two-year window because that is what the Raiders will be operating in if the predictions above come to fruition.
The key pieces on the team are already locked up at least through 2024, as is Aaron Rodgers if they trade for him. That means Mark Davis and Josh McDaniels will rob Peter to pay Paul this offseason and next to bring a Super Bowl to Sin City.
This means signing high-end free agents to back-loaded contracts the next two NFL offseasons and making trades at the trade deadline when players become available (ala Christian McCaffrey in 2022 or Von Miller in 2021).
Come 2025, the picks will be gone, the salary cap will be a mess, and the Raiders may be in serious trouble moving forward (think the Los Angeles Rams). But, if like the Rams, a Super Bowl victory comes with that, it will all be worth it.
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