Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders reportedly signed linebacker K.J. Wright to a one-year contract.

Wright told NFL reporter Josina Anderson the two sides came to an agreement. The 2016 Pro Bowler spent his first 10 NFL seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.

The Raiders initially brought Wright in for a meeting in early August but did not sign him. He's coming off a solid 2020 campaign that saw him record 86 tackles and two sacks. Pro Football Focus gave Wright a grade of 75.3 for the season, his best mark since 2015.

If anything, it was a surprise that Wright remained on the open market as long as he did. While teams typically don't fall over themselves to sign aging middle linebackers, Wright has been productive and healthy nearly every season of his career.

Raiders defensive coordinator Gus Bradley has familiarity with Wright dating back to their days in Seattle. It's unlikely that Wright will struggle much picking up the defense and could instantly slot into a starting spot. The Raiders hired Bradley in January in hopes of improving a defense that's ranked among the NFL's worst since Jon Gruden came back to the team in 2018.

Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis has submitted plans to build a three-story, 15,000-square-foot mansion in Ascaya, a private community in Clark County, Nevada.

Eli Segall of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Tuesday the house will have "strikingly similar" design concepts to Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders' home field, and the team's practice facility. The initial valuation came in at $14 million.

Las Vegas architect Bob Fielden reviewed the plans and told Segall he predicts the initial reaction to those who see the home in person will be, "Holy s--t!"

"They're a perfect trio. ... They all have the same character," Fielden said about the similarities between the Raiders' venues and Davis' planned mansion.

Davis told Segall he has "no idea" when the house will be finished.

Based on the plans, the home is expected to feature all of the standard amenities along with a prep kitchen, bar, steam room, library, pool area and a porte-cochere, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The Raiders are scheduled to kick off the 2021 season Sept. 13 when they host the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium on Monday Night Football.

Wide receiver John Brown reportedly got his wish.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Brown requested a release from the Las Vegas Raiders and was granted it Tuesday. That means the veteran pass-catcher is a free agent with the 2021 campaign approaching.

Brown entered the league as a third-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in the 2014 NFL draft.

He played for the NFC West team for four years before suiting up for the Baltimore Ravens in 2018 and the Buffalo Bills over the past two seasons. Las Vegas signed him this offseason, but his time with the team ended before he even saw the field for a regular-season game.

While the 31-year-old has often been a secondary receiver during his career, he has two seasons with more than 1,000 yards through the air on his resume.

The most recent came in 2019, when he tallied 72 catches for 1,060 yards and six touchdowns for Buffalo. He played just nine games in 2020 because of injuries and was unable to build on that production.

The receiving room was also crowded in Las Vegas given the presence of Henry Ruggs III, Bryan Edwards, Hunter Renfrow, Willie Snead IV and Zay Jones. Throw in tight end Darren Waller as one of the best at his position in the league, and there were only so many targets to go around.

Brown will now have a chance to sign with another team and provide a speedy, veteran presence to the wide receiver group.

The Carolina Panthers announced they have agreed to send linebacker Denzel Perryman and a 2022 seventh-round draft pick to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a 2022 sixth-round selection.

The deal is pending a physical, per Darin Gantt of panthers.com.

Perryman played for the San Diego and Los Angeles Chargers from 2015-2020 before signing a two-year, $6 million contract with the Panthers during free agency.

Perryman had 48 tackles, a pair of quarterback hits and a sack in 13 games (six starts) for the Chargers in 2020.

As Alaina Getzenberg of the Charlotte Observer wrote, Perryman had suffered a hip flexor as well as a foot injury after a teammate stepped on him during practice.

Both injuries cost Perryman training camp time, per Gantt, who also noted that Jermaine Carter was ahead of him on the depth chart at middle linebacker.

As for the Raiders, they've been in the market for linebacker depth, working out Mark Barron and Patrick Onwuasor this week, per ESPN's Paul Gutierrez.

That's the case because starting linebacker Nicholas Morrow and backup Javin White are out with injuries and could miss regular-season games, per Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“Obviously we’re concerned about them being available,” Raiders head coach Jon Gruden told reporters.

Adding Perryman certainly helps the cause as the Raiders look toward their regular-season opener on Sept. 13 against the Baltimore Ravens. The Panthers start their season on Sept. 12 versus the New York Jets. 

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is heading into the fourth season of a 10-year, $100 million contract, and the team's lack of success (19-29 with no playoff appearances) is generating some negative reviews from the NFL agents.

"I didn't like this signing even before he coached a game [with the Raiders]. He should have stayed on Monday Night Football," one agent told Ben Standig of The Athletic for an article published Wednesday. "My experience is he's not honest with players. He tells them what they want to hear, and that gets him in trouble."

Another added: "It's a disaster. The game has passed [Gruden] by considerably in terms of ingenuity, and him having full control is problematic."

Gruden knew he was going to face a lot of pressure and skeptics when he returned to the sideline after a successful decade-long run in the broadcast booth.

The 58-year-old Ohio native was a fixture on ESPN as a color commentator on Monday Night Football—"Spider 2 Y Banana" became a household phrase—and the star of Gruden's QB Camp, a show looking at each year's top quarterback draft prospects.

When he decided to accept the Raiders' job in 2018 to become a head coach for the first time since 2008 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he knew what was on the horizon.

"So, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to come back and put it all on me," Gruden told S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated in 2018. "Everybody's going to want to kick my ass, step on me. They can't wait to talk about what a dumbass I am, and how s--tty I was to start with. How 'overrated' I am. I hear it all. I know it's going to happen."

Those comments seem prophetic in hindsight as pressure mounts on Gruden to turn the Raiders into a championship contender.

He guided the Raiders to a 38-26 record with two playoff appearances in four years during his first tenure with the organization from 1998 through 2001.

Gruden then became part of a rare fraternity as a coach who was traded, being sent to Tampa Bay in 2002 for a haul of draft picks, including a pair of first-rounders. The deal paid immediately dividends for the Bucs, who won the Super Bowl at the end of the 2002 campaign.

The University of Dayton alumni could never replicate that success during the remainder of his seven-year run in Tampa, finishing with a 57-55 record and two first-round exits in his subsequent playoff appearances.

His first three years in Las Vegas haven't yielded high-end results, and one agent told Standig this could be a crucial year for Gruden.

"He's made them relevant, but this is a very big year for him—as it would be for any coach in his fourth year who hasn't made the playoffs yet," another agent said. "He took over a bad team and are now about right where I expected. But no more excuses."

The Raiders begin the 2021 campaign Sept. 13 when they host the Baltimore Ravens for a clash on Monday Night Football.

One NFL agent offered a withering assessment of the Las Vegas Raiders' offseason.

The Athletic's Ben Standig canvassed 33 different agents on a number of different topics, and three said the Raiders had the most disappointing offseason of any team.

"I don’t understand the moves they made," one of the respondents said. "It’s like they’re trying to do what they’re not supposed to in drafts and trades. It comes across as fantasy football."

Alabama offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood and TCU safety Trevon Moehrig headlined the team's haul from the 2021 NFL draft. The Raiders took two safeties in the later rounds (Virginia Tech's Divine Deablo and Missouri's Tyree Gillespie) as well.

Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report gave Las Vegas a C-minus grade for its draft, calling Leatherwood "a laughable reach in Round 1." He also said it was "hard to be inspired by this draft."

Prior to the draft, the Raiders raised some eyebrows when they overhauled their offensive line, trading away Trent Brown, Gabe Jackson and Rodney Hudson. Signing Kenyan Drake to a two-year, $11 million deal was also puzzling since they already had Josh Jacobs in their backfield.

The Raiders' personnel moves in recent seasons haven't helped the general perception of the team-building approach of head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock.

The Raiders took Clelin Ferrell with the No. 4 overall pick in 2019, but he has only 6.5 sacks through two seasons. Neither of the team's 2020 first-rounders, Henry Ruggs III and Damon Arnette, played up to expectations as rookies, either. And Las Vegas traded Lynn Bowden Jr. only months after selecting him in the third round of the 2020 draft.

Perhaps Mayock and Gruden will be vindicated with the Raiders' performance on the field in 2021. But the latter in particular hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt so far after having failed to guide the franchise to a winning season in his first three years back at the helm.

The Las Vegas Raiders reportedly reached out to the Chicago Bears to see whether they could bring outside linebacker Khalil Mack back to the organization after trading him in 2018.

Vic Tafur of The Athletic reported Monday the Raiders "made a phone call" to the Bears in March to see whether Mack could be available for another blockbuster trade between the teams, but Chicago was "not interested" in the idea.

Las Vegas subsequently signed edge-rusher Yannick Ngakoue to a two-year, $26 million contract in free agency.

The Raiders, who were in Oakland at the time, selected Mack with the fifth overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft. The University at Buffalo product burst into the national spotlight in an August 2013 game against second-ranked Ohio State when he recorded nine tackles, 2.5 sacks and an interception for a touchdown.

Mack quickly emerged as one of the NFL's most impactful defenders. He recorded 304 total tackles, 84 quarterback hits, 40.5 sacks, 11 passes defended, nine forced fumbles and an interception in 64 appearances across four years with the Raiders.

The 2016 Defensive Player of the Year grew frustrated with his contract ahead of the 2018 season, however, and held out for the entirety of training camp and preseason before his trade to Chicago.

He's remained a force on the edge for the Bears, tallying 30 sacks, 14 forced fumbles and 11 passes defended in 46 games over the past three seasons.

Although speculation emerged Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who was hired in 2018, didn't want Mack, team owner Mark Davis said that wasn't the case and it was simply a situation where the team couldn't afford to give the linebacker the six-year, $141 million deal he ultimately got from Chicago.

"Jon wanted him. Everybody thinks that Jon's the one who wanted to get rid of him. Jon wanted him badly," Davis told ESPN's Paul Gutierrez in 2018. "Why wouldn't you want this guy? [Former general manager] Reggie [McKenzie] wanted him badly. And I wanted him badly, too."

The return of Mack would have provided a massive boost to a Las Vegas pass rush that finished 29th in the NFL with 21 sacks during the 2020 season.

Ngakoue isn't an upper-echelon talent like Mack, but he's been a highly reliable edge-rusher since the Jacksonville Jaguars selected him in the third round of the 2016 draft. He's tallied at least eight sacks in all five of his pro seasons, including a career-high 12 in 2017.

The 26-year-old Washington, D.C., native split last season between the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens, finishing the year with 23 total tackles and eight sacks.

Looking ahead, Chicago and Las Vegas are scheduled to face off in Week 5 at Allegiant Stadium, and the Mack rumors will add a little more intrigue to that Oct. 10 clash.

Los Angeles Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey told reporters that he "can't find the plays" where he was "burnt multiple times" by Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Hunter Renfrow during a joint practice between the two teams on Wednesday.

Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic provided video, and Nick Shook of NFL.com relayed the quotes.

I guess some of their media thought that Hunter Renfrow had a really good day against me. I still can't find the plays. I done watched the film twice and I still can't find the plays where I was burnt multiple times. But sure. He had one good catch on me yesterday. ... It's cool, I get that, you know, sometimes mentioning my name going against certain receivers may give them buzz and it may pump them up some. This is no disrespect to Hunter Renfrow, because I actually think he's a pretty good player. I think he has some Cooper Kupp in him.

But I didn't have no issues yesterday. Watching the film, I played pretty well yesterday. Maybe some people just need to learn the difference between zone and man schemes. It doesn't really bother me, but sometimes you've got to set the record straight sometimes. And then you just leave it at that, tell people to enjoy their day and keep it pushin'.

Numerous onlookers observing that Rams-Raiders practice believed Renfrow had a good day in Ramsey's slot coverage, with some examples below:

Free-agent cornerback Charles James II isn't convinced that Ramsey struggled though:

Renfrow was sure to credit Ramsey for some good reps on his end (the cornerback did the same for the wideout and compared him to Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp).

"If I can beat Jalen Ramsey, then I can beat anybody in the NFL, because he is one of the best," Renfrow said per Vic Tafur of The Athletic. "That's how I approach it. He got me a couple of times, and hopefully tomorrow we make each other better again."

The Raiders will visit the Rams at SoFi Stadium on Saturday at 10 p.m. ET for a preseason matchup.