Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders will be releasing guard Richie Incognito due to salary-cap concerns, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

According to Rapoport, Incognito is "100 percent healthy" and "looks forward to continuing his career there or elsewhere."

Las Vegas will be saving $5,475,000 in cap money with the move, per Over the Cap.

Incognito signed with the then-Oakland Raiders before the 2019 season and started all 16 games. Las Vegas then inked him to a two-year, $12.7 million deal at the 2019 campaign.

Incognito entered the 2020 season as a starter once again but played just two games. The Raiders initially termed his ailment as an Achilles injury before making an announcement in November 2020 that he would be out for the year with "season-ending foot surgery," per ESPN's Paul Gutierrez.

Denzelle Good took over for Incognito as the Raiders' starting left guard and stayed in the lineup for the duration of the season.

The Raiders now have to plug a hole at left guard with Incognito gone. Good is a free agent, but the Raiders could bring one of the players back.

That player could very well be Incognito. Per Vic Tafur of The Athletic, "the expectation is that he'll re-sign with the Raiders for less money."

The 38-year-old Incognito, a four-time Pro Bowler, has played for the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills (two stints), Miami Dolphins and Raiders during an NFL career that began in 2006.

Coming off the best season of his career, the Las Vegas Raiders hope to bring wide receiver Nelson Agholor back in 2021.   

Raiders general manager Mike Mayock told reporters the team "would love" to re-sign Agholor in free agency:

"When I lived in Philadelphia, I did the Eagles preseason games and Nelly was an Eagle. I was familiar with his work ethic and appreciated him back then. What he brought to the Raiders last year was off the charts. He brought a work ethic, a toughness. He brought the young guys along with him, and he brought productivity and trust with our quarterback.

"All of those things he brought, we don't want to lose. We'd love to have Nelly back. That's a guy that I can't tell you how much appreciation I have for."

Agholor turned out to be one of the best free-agent bargains of the 2020 season. The 27-year-old ranked second in the NFL with 18.7 yards per reception, set a career high with 896 receiving yards and tied his personal best with eight touchdowns. 

Since he was coming off five inconsistent seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Raiders were able to sign Agholor for one year, $1.047 million. 

Despite that 2020 performance, Pro Football Focus projects Agholor will sign a reasonable two-year, $15 million contract with $7 million guaranteed from the Raiders this offseason. 

Cap space is a problem for the Raiders right now, with Spotrac projecting them to have $6.7 million available. 

There's certainly a risk factor betting on Agholor to remain consistent from year to year. He only had more than 400 receiving yards twice in five years with the Eagles and never averaged more than 12.4 yards per reception from 2015-19. 

The Raiders offense seemed to make better use of Agholor's skills than Philadelphia was able to in his later years with the organization. They are going to bring back the bulk of their skill-position players next season, including Darren Waller, Henry Ruggs III and Josh Jacobs. 

Agholor helped Las Vegas rank 10th in scoring and finish with a non-losing record (8-8) for the first time since 2016. 

Las Vegas Raiders general manager Mike Mayock called Derek Carr "one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL" during a Zoom conference with reporters Wednesday:

"I think Derek Carr had his best year yet, under [Raiders head coach Jon Gruden]. I think he's one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, and we couldn't be happier with him. And I tell you every year -- we evaluate every position every year. I have no idea who might call me [for a trade] or who might not call me. So, you have to do the evaluations, both on your own players and every other player in the league. And you've got to stack your boards and understand what league value is all around the league, and we do that. 

"But if you're asking me [specifically] about Derek, I think Jon and I would both stand shoulder to shoulder and pound the table for Derek Carr."

Carr's seventh season as the Raiders' starting quarterback ended with him completing 67.3 percent of his passes for 27 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. His 4,103 passing yards and 8.2 adjusted yards per pass attempt were both career highs.

Football Outsiders ranked Carr seventh among all qualified quarterbacks in DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement) and ninth in DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average). Las Vegas' passing offense was also ninth in DVOA.

Mayock's remarks came roughly a week after Mark Rodgers, the agent of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, told ESPN's Adam Schefter that his client would be open to joining the Raiders, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys or New Orleans Saints if the 'Hawks ultimately dealt him.

However, Carr appears to have support of more than Mayock within the Raiders organization.

"I have all the belief in the world in Derek Carr," Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller said on NFL Network's Good Morning Football. "I have ever since I got here. I still do to this day. I think he's a guy that can take us everywhere we want to go."

Waller was a big reason why the Raiders offense excelled in 2020, as he snagged 107 passes for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns.

Fullback Alec Ingold also gave his two cents to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"When you have a quarterback like Derek and a leader like Derek and a guy that puts us in the right situation to win ballgames like Derek does, it’s tough to keep reading about how he's on the way out and how someone else is coming in," Ingold said.

The Raiders offense finished top 10 in scoring, but the defense allowed the third-most points per game. Las Vegas has talent on that end, including Maxx Crosby (17 sacks in two seasons) and safety Johnathan Abram (team-high 86 tackles last year).

However, the Raiders allowed 24 or more points in 14 of their 16 games, torpedoing a promising season that started with the team going 6-3 before a 2-5 finish. Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther was also relieved of his duties before the campaign ended.

The offense figures to have the fewest problems right now. If the Raiders shore up their defense and Carr is able to duplicate (or improve upon) his performance from last year, then Las Vegas would be in great shape to break a four-season streak outside of the playoffs. 

Coming off an injury-plagued 2020, the Las Vegas Raiders reportedly have been exploring trade possibilities for Trent Brown.

Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Raiders "have had talks" about a potential deal involving their starting right tackle, who played in just five games last season because of injury and COVID-19 protocols. Rapoport later described those trade talks as "pretty extensive."

Rapoport added Las Vegas is not expected to cut Brown if the lineman is not traded.

General manager Mike Mayock seemed to indicate the team would be willing to move on from Brown when speaking to reporters on Wednesday. 

"The jury is still out here," Mayock said. "He's under contract. We believe in the talent of that player. There would be nothing finer than having Trent Brown protecting Derek Carr in the season opener. But the jury is still out

The Raiders made Brown the highest-paid tackle by average annual value in NFL history when they signed him to a four-year, $66 million contract in March 2019. 

Since Brown's deal doesn't have any guaranteed money remaining, the Raiders could trade him without incurring any dead cap hit. He's owed $13.75 million in base salary next season, per Spotrac. 

Brown was coming off a successful one-year stint with the New England Patriots in 2018. He started all 16 games during the regular season and helped the team beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII. 

In his first season with the Raiders, Brown was named to the Pro Bowl despite missing five games due to injuries. 

Brown has appeared in 63 games over the past six seasons with the Raiders, Patriots and San Francisco 49ers. 

Gabe Jackson is going to be a free agent after the Las Vegas Raiders reportedly decided to release the veteran guard. 

Per NFL reporter Josina Anderson, the Raiders informed Jackson of his release on Wednesday. 

Jackson didn't have any guaranteed money remaining on his contract that runs through 2022. He was set to count $9.6 million against the cap next season, per Spotrac. 

Darren Waller knows the pressure is on the Las Vegas Raiders to make the playoffs in Jon Gruden's fourth season.

That said, he's not on board with the people who think changing quarterbacks is the answer. 

"I have all the belief in the world in Derek Carr," Waller said on Good Morning Football. "I have ever since I got here. I still do to this day. I think he's a guy that can take us everywhere we want to go."

Raiders general manager Mike Mayock appeared on NFL Network on Wednesday and was also highly complimentary of Carr, saying 2020 was his "best year yet."

Carr threw for 4,103 yards and 27 touchdowns against nine interceptions in 2020, his seventh season as the Raiders first-string quarterback. While he's a decidedly above-average NFL starter—both advanced metrics and traditional numbers ranked him as a top-10 quarterback in several categories—some have wondered if the Raiders offense is limited with him as the franchise face.

Most of the previous criticisms about Carr—namely an inability or unwillingness to throw downfield—have proved to be false narratives. The NFL's Next Gen Stats show that Carr is aggressive with the football more often than nearly every Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback in the league, and he was one of the league's most accurate quarterbacks versus his expected completion percentage.

The Raiders are not particularly loaded at receiver, either, so Carr's passing and Gruden's system deserve a ton of credit. Waller has become Carr's favorite target since bursting on the scene in 2019, compiling 197 receptions for 2,341 yards and 12 touchdowns over the last two seasons.

Where Vegas has failed at building a winner has been on the defensive side of the ball. It's ranked among the five worst defenses in football each of the last four seasons, per Football Outsiders' DVOA metric.

The Las Vegas Raiders released wide receiver Tyrell Williams on Wednesday, the team announced, ending his tenure with the team two seasons into a four-year, $44.3 million contract. 

The 29-year-old did not play in 2020 after a torn labrum in his shoulder last September landed him on injured reserve. He posted 651 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 42 catches over 14 games in 2019. 

Williams is now an unrestricted free agent in a class boasting with talent. 

The wideout has already collected the guaranteed $22 million on his contract and will not count against next season's salary cap. Instead, the Raiders will avoid a cap hit of $11.6 million this year and $11.5 million next year. 

Before Williams' release, Las Vegas was expected to begin the offseason $9.8 million over the cap, though the limit for 2021 has not been announced. 

The Raiders posted the seventh-best passing offense last year (263.6 yards per game) despite Williams being unavailable. Tight end Darren Waller led all receivers with 107 catches for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns while wideout Nelson Agholor added another 896 yards and eight touchdowns himself. 

Rookie receiver Henry Ruggs III put up a modest showing in his debut season with 452 yards on 26 catches with two touchdowns, but was able to flash the potential that made him the No. 12 overall pick during last year's draft. 

Cutting Williams made sense given his salary and the offenses' production without him.

Now he joins an unrestricted free agent wideout market that features A.J. Green, Allen Robinson, T.Y. Hilton and Sammy Watkins. 

The trade market for Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Marcus Mariota has reportedly gone cold.

The NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday that "Mariota had an active trade market as of last week. Sounds like that is dried up for a couple of different reasons."

The 27-year-old played well in his one appearance in 2020, throwing for 226 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed nine times for 88 yards and a score. The Raiders lost that contest 30-27 in overtime against the Los Angeles Chargers.

His solid outing revitalized talk that Mariota might still be a capable starter in the NFL after losing his starting gig to Ryan Tannehill with the Tennessee Titans in 2019. The Raiders brought him aboard to back up Derek Carr last season. 

With a reasonable cap hit of just $10.7 million next season, he'd be an interesting option for a team looking to upgrade at quarterback without breaking the bank or for a team that drafts a young quarterback but doesn't want to throw him into the fire immediately.

It seems less likely that Mariota will return to Las Vegas, with Rapoport reporting earlier in the week that Carr likely would be back as the team's quarterback next season:

The quarterback trade market has already been unusually busy, with Matt Stafford, Jared Goff and Carson Wentz traded. But with those three dealt—and uncertainty abound when it comes to the fate of Deshaun Watson—it appears that market has slowed. 

Expect things to heat back up closer to April's NFL draft.