Las Vegas Raiders

Darren Waller's hopes of getting a new contract from the Las Vegas Raiders could become a reality soon.

Per Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, talks between Waller and the Raiders are "progressing" with the goal of getting a deal done before their first game of the year against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

Waller signed with agents Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey last month after previously being represented by Klutch Sports.

"I plan on going to work on this right away," Rosenhaus told ESPN's Paul Gutierrez via text when asked about negotiating with the Raiders on Waller's behalf.

There were positive signs that a deal could be worked out when Vegas opened training camp. Waller showed up on time for the start of camp rather than holding out in an attempt to force a new deal.

Waller has two years and approximately $13 million remaining on his current deal, which was signed in October 2019.

Per The Athletic's Vic Tafur, Waller's remaining salary ranks 17th among all tight ends over the next two seasons.

George Kittle ($15 million), Travis Kelce ($14.3 million), Dallas Goedert ($14.25 million) and Mark Andrews ($14 million) will all earn more in 2022 than Waller will over the next two seasons combined, according to Tafur.

Since the start of 2019, Waller and Kelce are the only tight ends in the NFL with more than 1,000 yards in multiple seasons. The 29-year-old led the Raiders in receiving yards in 2019 and 2020.

With Josh McDaniels entering his first season as head coach, the Raiders have been spending aggressively to lock in their core players. They signed Davante Adams to the richest contract in NFL history for a wide receiver (five years, $141.25 million) after acquiring him from the Green Bay Packers.

Hunter Renfrow and Derek Carr signed extensions with Las Vegas, too.

Waller has emerged as one of the best tight ends in the NFL over the past three seasons. He was originally a sixth-round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2015 and spent the first three years of his career primarily as a backup.

The Raiders signed Waller off the Ravens' practice squad midway through the 2018 season. He has 355 targets, 252 receptions, 3,006 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns since becoming a full-time starter in 2019.

Tom Brady was prepared to join the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020, and team owner Mark Davis "wanted it to happen," according to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.

During the alternate "GronkCast" feed of UFC 278, UFC President Dana White made an eye-opening revelation. He said he had helped orchestrate a deal to bring Brady and Rob Gronkowski to the Raiders, except then-Raiders head coach Jon Gruden "blew the deal up."

Davis pleaded ignorance when responding to the comments.

"That was what—two to three years ago or something?" he said to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Ed Graney and Adam Hill. "I don’t know. Talk to Dana. I remember that Tom Brady went to Tampa Bay. That’s basically what I remember."

Florio followed up Tuesday to report Davis "knew exactly what was happening" as it related to Brady specifically, and White was heavily involved. Per Florio, he "brokered the deal with both sides" and "served as the man who was trying to get Brady to Las Vegas to play for Mark Davis."

The Miami Dolphins were just investigated in part for tampering allegations centered around Brady. They lost a first-round pick in 2023 and a third-round pick in 2024, and team owner Stephen Ross was suspended through Oct. 17 and fined $1.5 million.

That penalty gives Davis plenty of incentive to claim he has a short memory and can't recall any official or unofficial pursuit of Brady.

His denial may not be enough to ward off an inquiry by the NFL, though, especially in light of Florio's reporting.

To say it was a wild offseason in the AFC West is the mother of all understatements. In an effort to dethrone the six-time reigning division champion Kansas City Chiefs, the other three teams all went buck wild adding impact players.

For the Los Angeles Chargers, it meant overhauling the defense with the addition of edge-rusher Khalil Mack and cornerback J.C. Jackson. The Denver Broncos added a Super Bowl champion quarterback in Russell Wilson. And the Las Vegas Raiders added big names on both sides of the ball by signing edge-rusher Chandler Jones and trading for superstar wide receiver Davante Adams.

That those additions improved a Raiders team that made the postseason in 2021 goes without saying. But amid all the hype from those additions, there's something else that isn't being said. While the Raiders have more than a few strengths, there are also weaknesses on both sides of the ball. Potentially glaring weaknesses.

The kinds of weaknesses that could ruin the team's chances of winning what may well be the toughest division in the NFL.

The Raiders weren't exactly hurting for skill-position talent on offense even before Adams came to town. Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow caught 103 passes, topped 1,000 yards and scored nine touchdowns in a breakout 2021 campaign. As recently as two years ago, tight end Darren Waller caught 107 passes for almost 1,200 yards. Running back Josh Jacobs eclipsed 1,200 total yards last season. And now the team has an "alpha" receiver in Adams.

That's quite a bit of firepower for quarterback Derek Carr, who was fifth in the league with 4,804 passing yards in 2021. He was also fifth in the league in completion percentage last season. He's one of the more underrated veteran starters at his position in the league.

But all that firepower will be of little help to Carr if he's constantly running for his life. Last year, he was sacked 40 times—tied for fifth-most. Heading into 2022, Pro Football Focus ranked the Raiders offensive line as the fourth-worst in the league.

If the preseason has been any indication, that ranking may have been too generous.

While speaking to reporters this week, Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels admitted that line was a work in progress.

"It's too early to sit here and try to say where it's at. But there's multiple guys in there that are competing. They know that; they all know it. We're going to try to play the best 11 guys on every snap. It's the right thing to do. It's the best thing for the team. If we keep putting the best 11 out there regardless of how young, old, whatever, it doesn't matter about that—if we put the best 11 out there, I think everybody respects the fact that we're trying to win, so everybody's going to get opportunities.

"There's a lot of competition. I think it makes them all better. They've embraced it, which is really what we want from our team, and we look forward to letting it play out on the field. They'll determine it."

Simply put, the right side of the offensive line in Las Vegas is a disaster. 2021 first-round pick Alex Leatherwood was a mess at both guard and tackle as a rookie, allowing eight sacks and committing a whopping 14 penalties. Brandon Parker was no better in Leatherwood's stead, allowing eight sacks of his own.

Now, Parker is hurt and likely won't be ready for Week 1. So is rookie seventh-rounder Thayer Munford. Leatherwood was moved back to tackle out of necessity and was a turnstile in the Raiders' last preseason game. Even if the Raiders add a tackle between now and Week 1, it's hard to envision a scenario where the right side of the line isn't a major problem in 2022. And it's not just a pass-protection issue, as the Raiders ranked 28th in rushing in 2021.

Jacobs is a capable back, but he can't create long gains from thin air when multiple defenders are in the backfield with him on a regular basis.

Defensively, pairing Jones with Maxx Crosby gives the Raiders one of the league's better one-two punches on the edge. Inside linebacker Denzel Perryman had far and away the best season of his career in 2021. And when he's healthy, Johnathan Abram is one of the NFL's hardest-hitting safeties.

But just like on offense, there's a problem. The Raiders cornerbacks are a major question mark.

Last year, the Raiders were a middle-of-the-pack pass defense, ranking 13th in the NFL at 222.9 passing yards per game allowed. However, the leader of that position group from last year is gone after veteran Casey Hayward departed in free agency.

The Raiders took steps to address Hayward's departure, adding Rock Ya-Sin via trade and signing Anthony Averett away from the Baltimore Ravens. Per Vic Tafur of The Athletic, Carr lauded the new additions to the secondary.

"They are super competitive," Carr said. "They are challenging me to make really tight throws, some tighter throws than some games. … And sometimes obviously with the talent that we have, they get beat here and there on certain things. But that's not a knock, it's definitely not a knock on them. But I've been really impressed with all our secondary and the covering skills that they've had. I'm excited to watch them work. Again, it's a process, but they are doing some really good things."

Ya-Sin is a decent young player, but he hasn't started more than eight games in a season since his rookie year. Holdover Trayvon Mullen missed 12 games and has allowed over 62 percent of the passes thrown in his direction the past two years to be completed. Nate Hobbs' completion percentage against in 2021 was over 82 percent.

This isn't to say the Raiders have the worst cornerback room in the league. They don't. But the team lost its most proven option at the position in the offseason. There may be some good here, but there isn't great. And in a division that includes two games each against Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Russell Wilson, "good" may not be good enough.

This doesn't necessarily mean the Raiders are doomed to a last-place finish in the division. Or that the team will absolutely miss the playoffs. Maybe they will find some way to cobble together a competent right side of the offensive line. Maybe some of the Raiders' young corners will take a big step forward in 2022.

But the AFC West in 2022 has the makings of a division where teams are going to have to win some shootouts. Games where protecting the quarterback and slowing down an opponent's passing attack will be absolute musts.

The Raiders don't appear especially well-equipped to do either.

There's no maybe about that.

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski could have donned the Silver and Black in 2020 and 2021, but apparently, former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden wasn't too fond of the idea.

UFC President Dana White said Saturday during an appearance on UFC 278 with The Gronks on ESPN that he had a deal done for Brady and Gronkowski to join the Raiders in 2020 but Gruden "blew the deal up":

"I'm the one... I worked to put that deal together for Brady and Gronk to come to the Raiders and it was almost a done deal. And at the last minute, Gruden blew the deal up and said that he didn't want him and all hell broke loose man. It was crazy, and Brady was already looking at houses and it wasn't being said yet that Gronk was coming. So, Las Vegas would have had Brady and Gronk the year that the Bucs won the Super Bowl, except Gruden blew the deal up."

Gronkowski essentially confirmed the story when responding to White:

"And Dana, that is exactly what happened and you just told the story. It worked out for the best and I'm glad it did not go through."

The news of White contacting Brady is hardly a surprise, though. The UFC boss called the now-seven-time Super Bowl champion during an Instagram live session in March 2020 and pitched him on joining the Raiders:

"Las Vegas would love to have you here with the Raiders. The stadium, the facility is incredible. The training facility that they have outside of Vegas is unbelievable. It's a 45-minute flight from L.A. Your kids and your family could live there and fly back and forth. We want you to come to the Raiders. You know I've been pitching you now for a month. Come on, brother. Get to Vegas."

At the time, Brady said he was being patient and going through the process of searching for a new team for the first time in his career after a 20-year stint with the New England Patriots. However, based on White's story, it seems like he was more than ready to suit up for the Raiders.

The only question is why would Gruden put the kibosh on such a deal? Adding Brady and Gronkowski to an offensive unit that already included Darren Waller, Josh Jacobs and Hunter Renfrow could have put the Raiders among the NFL's elite.

Las Vegas went on to finish second in the AFC West with an 8-8 record during the 2020 campaign, and they missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season. It marked the third straight year the Raiders missed the playoffs in Gruden's return to the franchise. He previously coached the team from 1999 to 2001.

Brady and Gronkowski, meanwhile, teamed up to lead the Buccaneers to a second-place finish in the NFC South with an 11-5 record. They then bulldozed the Washington Commanders, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs en route to a Super Bowl title.

You can put this down as arguably one of the biggest what-ifs in NFL history.