Las Vegas Raiders

Darren Waller is seeking a new contract with the Las Vegas Raiders, though he is letting his agent handle negotiations while he focuses on football.

"My agent is working on that," Waller said on the Ross Tucker Football Podcast (h/t Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk). "I understand it, but I know if I focus on it too much, it could take away from my job and learning a new system and just continuing to try to elevate and take care of my body in the right way. I try to focus on those things and let my agent handle that. When decisions need to be made, decisions need to be made."

Waller is signed through the 2023 season, and a new contract could secure his future in Las Vegas amid trade rumors during the offseason.

Aaron Nagler of CheeseheadTV reported in April the Green Bay Packers were targeting the tight end, while ESPN's Matt Miller added Waller was "being shopped due to age and expected cost."

Waller has a $6.8 million cap hit in 2022, which ranks just 11th among tight ends, per Spotrac. Even with another year under team control, the 29-year-old should be in line for a raise after totaling 252 catches for 3,006 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns over the last three seasons.

After earning a Pro Bowl selection in 2020, Waller took a step back in 2021 while dealing with a knee injury for part of the year. He finished with 55 catches for 665 yards and two scores.

Though he was unable to reach 1,100 yards for the third straight year, his 60.5 receiving yards per game was still better than Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, Dalton Schultz and Mike Gesicki— the four tight ends set to make over $10 million in 2022.

The Raiders could struggle to afford an increased salary at the position, but it seems both sides want to work out a deal.

Owner Mark Davis denied trade rumors in April.

"There's nothing going on with Darren Waller, except he's a Raider," Davis said.

Waller also said he isn't going anywhere.     

A deal between the Las Vegas Raiders and Colin Kaepernick reportedly isn't on the verge of happening. 

Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Raiders signing Kaepernick isn't "imminent" even though the team was impressed with his arm strength and conditioning during his workout on Wednesday. 

It marked his first official workout with an NFL team since he last appeared in a game during the 2016 season. He did have a visit with the Seattle Seahawks in May 2017, shortly after he was released by the San Francisco 49ers. 

Kaepernick began protesting police brutality and social injustice before games during the 2016 season. His protest initially began by remaining seated on the bench during the playing of the national anthem, but he eventually took a knee on the sidelines after speaking with special forces soldier Nate Boyer.

In February 2019, Kaepernick and Eric Reid, who played alongside him in San Francisco and joined his sideline protest, reached a settlement with the NFL after filing collusion grievances against the league. 

Kaepernick filed his grievance in October 2017. Reid, who remained with the 49ers in 2017 and played two seasons with the Carolina Panthers from 2018-19, filed his grievance in May 2019. 

Per Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, Kaepernick's workout lasted nearly five hours, and he went through drills, met with coaches and team executives.

"It was a very normal workout," one source told Robinson. "It was just about assessing a football player, meeting face to face, seeing the physical capabilities. Like any other football workout."

Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels spoke with reporters Thursday, but he didn't offer any specifics about Kaepernick. He said:

"Just by standard procedure, we will only talk about the people that are on our team. [General manager] Dave [Ziegler] and his staff have worked out tons of guys this spring, and we really don't make comments about the evaluations that we've made; or what they look like, what they didn't look like."

Kaepernick has been very open in recent months about pursuing any opportunity he can find to work with NFL players in an attempt to resume his career. 

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was Kaepernick's coach for four seasons with the 49ers, brought the 34-year-old to Ann Arbor for the Wolverines' spring game last month. 

Kaepernick also threw to a group of undrafted receivers in front of NFL scouts during halftime of the game. 

Mick Lombardi, who joined McDaniels' staff as Las Vegas' offensive coordinator in February, was an assistant with the 49ers for Kaepernick's final four seasons with the team from 2013 to 2016. 

Kaepernick led the 49ers to back-to-back NFC Championship Game appearances in 2012 and 2013. They beat the Atlanta Falcons in the 2012 game to reach Super Bowl 47. He threw for 12,271 yards and 72 touchdowns in 69 career games with San Francisco.     

Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon thinks the Las Vegas Raiders would have a plan to use Colin Kaepernick in games if they were to sign him. 

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Moon said Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels "knows how to work with that type of quarterback" and could potentially implement a "package of plays" to take advantage of Kaepernick's skill set. 

Moon specifically cited McDaniels' history of working with Cam Newton and Tim Tebow, who were both mobile quarterbacks, as potential reasons for the Raiders' interest in Kaepernick.

McDaniels was head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2010 when Tebow was drafted with the No. 25 overall pick. He also had a preseason stint with the New England Patriots in 2013 when McDaniels was the team's offensive coordinator. 

Tebow didn't play significant snaps for the Broncos as a rookie until after McDaniels was fired in December 2010. 

Newton was New England's starting quarterback during the 2020 season. The former NFL MVP threw for 2,657 yards and eight touchdowns. He also had 592 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground in 15 starts. 

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday that Kaepernick completed a workout with Las Vegas. It marked his first time having a formal workout for an NFL team since he was released by the San Francisco 49ers after the 2016 season. 

Kaepernick did throw in front of NFL scouts last month during Michigan's spring game. Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh was Kaepernick's head coach in San Francisco from 2011-14. 

Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Raiders were impressed with Kaepernick's conditioning and arm strength during his workout, but no deal is imminent at this point. 

Kaepernick appeared in 69 games for the 49ers from 2011-16. He threw for 12,271 yards, ran for 2,300 yards and accounted for 85 touchdowns.

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said the team still belongs to quarterback Derek Carr even after Colin Kaepernick's workout.

"Derek's pretty comfortable where he's at," McDaniels told reporters Thursday. "... He knows it's his football team and he's working like it on the field. I couldn't ask for more from Derek Carr."

While McDaniels didn't specifically mention Kaepernick because he said he won't speak about someone who isn't on the team, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported the former San Francisco 49ers signal-caller "impressed."

It doesn't come as much surprise the Raiders don't seem to view Kaepernick as a threat to Carr's job. After all, the incumbent starter is a three-time Pro Bowler who has thrown for more than 4,000 yards in four straight years.

He threw for a career-best 4,804 yards while leading Las Vegas to the playoffs last season.

By comparison, Kaepernick is 34 years old and hasn't played in the NFL since 2016. While he was effective that year and threw for 16 touchdowns and just four interceptions in 12 games for the 49ers, that is still a long time away from the game.

In his prime, Kaepernick could beat opposing defenses with his arm and legs. He led the 49ers to the Super Bowl during the 2012 season and the NFC Championship Game during the 2013 season but has not signed with a team since opting out of his deal in 2017.

He notably protested against police brutality and racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem and, along with former teammate Eric Reid, agreed to a confidential settlement with the NFL in Feb. 2019 after alleging there was collusion to prevent them from signing with teams following the protests.

In March, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Kaepernick was "still working out and is said to be, in the words of one source, 'in the best shape of his life.'"

The Nevada product furthered that sentiment:        

From the Raiders' perspective, they no longer have a proven backup after Marcus Mariota left to join the Atlanta Falcons. Jarrett Stidham has never started an NFL game and has two touchdown passes and four interceptions in 48 total throws from his time on the New England Patriots.

Kaepernick has a much better resume and could step in if Carr gets sidelined.       

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels believes he tried to copy Bill Belichick too much during his last stint as a head coach. 

"I'm not Bill...I can't be," McDaniels told reporters Thursday. "I'm just going to be myself and hopefully a good leader for this team."

McDaniels went 11-17 across two seasons with the Denver Broncos in 2009 and '10 after he spent the previous eight years under Belichick with the New England Patriots. He returned to the Patriots in 2012, spending 10 years as the team's offensive coordinator before landing a head coaching job with the Raiders this offseason.

The 46-year-old had a lot of success in his previous role, leading the Patriots to at least seventh in the NFL in points scored in eight of the last 10 years. The squad finished third in points last season despite being led by a rookie quarterback in Mac Jones.

McDaniels was also on the staff for all six of the franchise's Super Bowl titles, including the last three as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Despite his success in New England, significant questions loom regarding whether he can win without Belichick.

The Raiders are set up for contention after they reached the playoffs with a 10-7 record last season. Derek Carr is an established quarterback who set a career high with 4,804 passing yards in 2021, and he has an elite new weapon in All-Pro wideout Davante Adams.

The defense should also be improved after it added Chandler Jones and Bilal Nichols to the front seven.

It will be up to McDaniels to get the most out of the roster while he finds a path outside the Patriot Way and the Raiders look to contend for a Super Bowl.    

In addition to the Las Vegas Raiders, two other NFL teams reportedly showed interest in quarterback Colin Kaepernick this offseason, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

The news comes after the Raiders hosted the free agent for a workout on Wednesday, Kaepernick's first audition with a team since 2017. He last appeared in an NFL game in 2016 with the San Francisco 49ers.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the workout "went well and he impressed." 

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports added that the workout was a "legitimate effort to assess his ability and take a close look at what he can do."

The interest is a significant change from recent years when the 34-year-old struggled to get the attention of NFL organizations.

Kaepernick notably led the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance after the 2012 season and was a dual-threat star under center during his next four years as a starter. He threw 16 touchdowns with four interceptions in 12 appearances in 2016. 

Yet the quarterback's play became overshadowed by his decision to kneel during the national anthem as a protest against racial injustice and police brutality. He went unsigned the following offseason, and he filed a grievance against the NFL alleging collusion before settling with the league in 2019.

Though he has continually said he was ready to return to the field, he has been more aggressive this offseason and held a workout at the Michigan spring game alongside former coach Jim Harbaugh. 

The Raiders are seemingly now a legitimate landing spot for Kaepernick as a backup behind Derek Carr, but he may have other options if that falls through.     

Colin Kaepernick "impressed" Las Vegas Raiders officials during his workout with the team, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Rapoport added that "the door is open," seemingly alluding to an increased chance of Kaepernick signing a contract with the Raiders.

This was the 34-year-old's first workout for an NFL team since 2017.

Kaepernick has been out of the league since the conclusion of the 2016 season. That year, he began protesting by kneeling during the national anthem to raise awareness of police brutality and racial inequality.

Many thought the NFL and its owners retaliated against Kaepernick for his activism and froze him out. In 2019, he and former San Francisco 49ers teammate Eric Reid settled grievances with the NFL after alleging the league and owners had colluded to blackball them.

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, who coached Kaepernick in San Francisco, named the veteran signal-caller an honorary captain for the Wolverines' spring game in April. While attending the event, Kaepernick told Jeanna Trotman of WXYZ Detroit he was prepared to work his way back to a starting role if he landed with an NFL team again.

Derek Carr is firmly entrenched as Las Vegas' starter after signing a three-year, $121.5 million extension. The quarterback situation behind Carr is a little less assured for the Raiders.

Nick Mullens went 20-of-30 for 147 yards and one touchdown in his only start with the Cleveland Browns in 2020. Jarrett Stidham threw for 270 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions in his two years with the New England Patriots.

At the very least, it might be worth it for the Raiders to bring Kaepernick into training camp to see whether he can outperform Mullens or Stidham.

Veteran quarterback Colin Kaepernick reportedly will work out for the Las Vegas Raiders this week, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. 

The NFL Network's Ian Rapoport added that the workout was happening on Wednesday. 

Kaepernick has worked out with multiple NFL players this offseason and held a throwing session during Michigan's spring game, but it will be his first workout with an NFL team since he last played in the league in 2016. 

Schefter added that Kaepernick met with the Seattle Seahawks in 2017, though they chose against signing him. 

Kaepernick famously kneeled during the playing of the national anthem before games in the 2016 season in protest of police brutality and racial discrimination, a gesture he chose for his protest after speaking with Green Beret and former NFL player Nate Boyer.

Nonetheless, Kaepernick's protest became a huge national talking point, dividing opinion between those who supported his decision to bring attention to important social issues and those who claimed it was disrespectful to the flag and to veterans. 

After the 2016 season, Kaepernick went unsigned, with his supporters claiming that the NFL owners were blackballing him because of his political beliefs. Kaepernick and his former teammate, Eric Reid, filed a grievance against the NFL for collusion that they eventually settled in 2019.

But while Kaepernick hasn't found another job in the NFL since his San Francisco 49ers days, Raiders owner Mark Davis has long said publicly that he would happily take Kaepernick on his team:

"I believe in Colin Kaepernick," Davis said in March on Race in America: A Candid Conversation (h/t Monte Poole of NBC Sports). "He deserves every chance in the world to become a quarterback in the National Football League. I still stand by it. If our coaches and general manager want to bring him in or want him to be the quarterback on this team, I would welcome him with open arms."

Were the Raiders to sign Kaepernick, he would be fighting for a backup job behind starter Derek Carr. The team currently has Jarrett Stidham and Nick Mullens on the roster at the position.

A judge dismissed the NFL's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, according to The Athletic's Tashan Reed.

Reed noted the case could now go to discovery and speculated the NFL might want to head that off by reaching a settlement.

Gruden resigned from his post last October after emails surfaced in which he used anti-gay, racist and misogynistic language in correspondence. The emails were unearthed as the NFL investigated the workplace culture of the Washington Commanders.

In November, Gruden filed suit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell and alleged he was the victim of a "malicious and orchestrated campaign."

NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy responded to say the "allegations are entirely meritless and the NFL will vigorously defend against these claim."

The league filed its motion to dismiss the suit in January and also tried to get the case moved into arbitration.

This lawsuit's connection to the Commanders investigation might open the door for significantly damaging information to be made public in discovery.

Following the investigation, Washington received a $10 million fine, and Tanya Snyder assumed day-to-day duties running the organization from her husband. The NFL declined to supply the full findings of the investigation, though, with Beth Wilkinson sharing a verbal summary to league officials.

Through the Gruden lawsuit, some of those findings could presumably come to light if the discovery phase proceeds.