NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 279. Fix Your Franchise: 2025 Las Vegas Raiders

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers kick off the yearly Fix Your Franchise series with the Las Vegas Raiders. The two take the clock back to explain how the Raiders got here, talk about failed drafts and team building, but offer their solutions for coaching changes, future cap management, free agent targets and a 3-round Raiders mock draft.

Welcome to the NFL Stock Exchange podcast. In this episode, we are kicking off the Fix Your Franchise series for the 2025 offseason with the Las Vegas Raiders. We're going to talk about everything, how the Raiders got here. We take the clock back many years to explain how we got here with the Raiders. We'll talk about their coaching staff, some potential changes that we could see there, get into free agency, the salary cap, expiring contracts, potential free agent targets for them. And of course, round things out with a mini three round Las Vegas Raiders mock draft,

which has an extra pick. Thanks to the Devante Adams trade. I'm Trevor Sycamore. With me as always is Connor Rogers. Let's ring the bell. Welcome to the opening bell of the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast. Trevor Sycamore, Connor Rogers here with you guys for a joyous time. Unless you're a ranger. Unless maybe this is the joyous time.

This might be it. Yeah. Fix Your Franchise is back, baby. We've never been more back. It's everybody's favorite series that we have here on this channel. It's where we take a deep dive into your franchise, which we think is, you know,

on the scale of one to cheeks, pretty cheeks. And we're going to fix them. We're going to go through everything. We're going to tell you exactly how they got here. We're going to talk about the coaching staff, some coaching changes we think might happen, some potential replacements. We're going to look at their salary cap, the roster construction, the lineup, the draft history. We're going to do a

three-round mock draft for you. We're going to do a full free agency simulation. This is it right here. We are going to truly take the title of this episode literally and fix your franchise starting here with the las vegas raiders connor how you doing my friend you ready for the journey i'm a big fan of the scale one to cheeks that's uh that's the good stuff right there i probably should have gone from cheeks to 10 i was laughing at that it works. It's just a matter of like, hey, how do we decide who we fix first? Well, the cheeks scale. You were close, Panthers. You were real close.

Honestly, when we were talking about this a week ago, the main reason why we did the Raiders first is because we opened with the Panthers last year, and we just didn't have it in us to do that again. It's just not. I think they'll get there eventually. But yeah, and I feel like Raiders fans have wanted this. They are a really interesting team. We just didn't have it in us to do that again. It's just not. I think they'll get there eventually. But yeah, and I feel like Raiders fans have wanted this.

They are a really interesting team. I mean, the roster has its issues, but I don't know. The Raiders just, it feels like they should be better than they are, but they have nothing at quarterback right now. They have some questions on defense. They don't really have an identity. We're going to get into everything, how they got here,

where they need to go, what hires need to be made or what hires don't need to be made. And the best part of it is is doing these early team mock drafts. We have so much fun taking a look at early mock drafts, rounds one through three when we fix these teams.

Yeah, and the Raiders specifically are a fun one here because as we go throughout this exercise, we're going to talk about talk about okay are there players on the team that we want to trade for draft picks we know that already they traded davante adams so they have an additional third round pick which can be become an additional which sorry not an additional which it can become a second round pick if davante adams is an all pro not sure we're gonna get here in the season but I think but so it's a three-round mock draft though it's a three-round uh Raiders centric mock draft so at least they have that extra third round pick which makes it all the more fun this is a team that is

a top five team in the NFL when it comes to projected salary cap space so there's a lot of flexibility here but Connor overall this is just a incredibly layered and unique story about how we got here with the Las Vegas Raiders and I think that that's where we start things right we've got to go back to how we got here for the Raiders and they're sitting here in two and five this season Antonio Pierce is their head coach but think really to talk about how we want to fix the Las Vegas Raiders, we have to go back to how they exactly got to this spot. And for me, that starts all the way back for the John Gruden era.

I would say probably a little bit before. We're going to talk about some of the draft woes for this team. But it's at least in the Gruden area. Because when you look at this team, they hired John Gruden in 2018. They go 4-12 in that year. I think that was the year that they ended up. They traded Khalil Mack away.

I think they traded Amari Cooper not long after that. And they went 4-12 that first season with Gruden as head coach. They went 7-9 with Gruden as the head coach after that. They went 8-8 in his third year. And then we get to that 2021 season. And this is where stuff really starts to go off the rails in terms of the front office and the coaching staff. They start the year 3-0 that year. Then they lose the next two.

Then Gruden ends up resigning because of the whole investigation with the Washington football team and the emails that came out. And it looked like, okay, well, there were these, these allegations of misogynistic and racist and homophobic slurs that he said within these emails,

even talking about Roger Dell in them. And it was kind of all just, you know, hearsay. It was like, Oh, these are in here, but nobody really had any proof.

Then when the stuff actually came out, it was too much to deny. So Gruden ends up resigning. Rich Bisacci,cia takes over they end up making the playoffs that year but getting bounced in the first round so they don't hire rich passaccia then they go after josh mcdaniels but it's not just josh mcdaniels they tried to bring in the patriot way right they brought in dave ziegler to be their general manager him and him and mcdaniels basically only last one year because the first year that they were

there they go 6 and 11 all right admittedly not great but okay you're coming off a tumultuous time there's been a lot of stuff that's going going on you didn't exactly the gruden stuff kind of came out of nowhere for this team so all right 6 and 11 not bad then you go into the next week and they start that or sorry that next year in 2022 they start that three and five you had the crazy game where McDaniels ends up kicking a field goal with like two minutes left in the game down eight and after the game he said that it was a two possession game they're like eight eight points is a two possession game and it's like okay not only do vibes feel wrong, like you don't know what you're doing. Like you don't even understand like how things are going on.

So they end up firing McDaniels after just a year and what was it? Eight games, a year and eight games. They ended up moving on from him. They move on from Dave Ziegler as well. The whole Patriot way thing, it never works outside of Bill Belichick being on the Patriots and being the brainchild there. And so the vibes of that team, it felt like were terrible.

And so the interim, the all vibes interim hire was linebacker coach Antonio Pierce, who was beloved by the defense. The defense was playing well last year. There were some metrics where the Raiders were top 10 in the NFL in certain areas of their defense. And so we get to the end of the off season, they end up hiring Antonio Pierce and you know, Josh Jacobs no longer there. We'll get to that in a second. Derek Carr obviously wasn't there from a couple of years before. They're sitting there with the number 13 overall pick in the draft because they sort of overachieved down the stretch and they sit there in the draft and they let six quarterbacks go they don't get a quarterback they

have to stick a gardener mint shoe and here we are they're two and five Antonio Pierce is at this point in time still their head coach but it just feels as though that might also be another one and done for this team which is just way too many in a row and too much turmoil they need to find some stability but connor really since that last year of john gruden it has been i want to say a roller coaster for this team but to be honest it's basically just the tower of terror free falling at the end of the ride that's what it feels like for the raiders for us to have gotten to this point where now gardner Minshew's playing terrible they have no running game Aiden O'Connell just broke his thumb and now he's out for at least six to eight games but it's not like he was any better before they have the number eight

pick in the draft that the draft were to end right now they're two and five it looks bleak my friend what have you thought about the Raiders really over the last three to four years and then what you think about where they're at right now they're consistently a team that doesn't have an identity right in a division where it's so hard to compete if you don't like you know what I mean where you're looking at the Chiefs to me it's not just and I understand it's easy to get encapsulated in this it's not just all my homes and read the Chiefs behind all that, like under the hood have built an insane defense under spags that is consistent. And even when their skill guys get hurt, they can lean on the run or vary their offensive approach. They can play defense and

they can be a little more conservative on offense. They win in different ways. And then when you look at now the chargers under Harbaugh, very recently, they're going can be a little more conservative on offense. They win in different ways. And then when you look at now the Chargers under Harbaugh very recently, they're going to be a team that they're going to play very disciplined, stingy defense, and they know how to run the football. And they have a quarterback back there that when he needs to make a throw, they trust them to do it, but they don't want him dropping back 50 times. And even the Broncos, to their credit right now, they have a really, really good defense

while they're trying to figure out the offensive side of it. When I look at the Raiders for a long time now, I don't really know what they want to be. And I thought they went with Pierce with the thought that we want to be a team in this division that plays really good defense, runs the ball, doesn't ask our quarterback to be a hero, but we have enough skill guys around whoever is under center

that can uplift that quarterback. And then it felt like this draft, they really did just lose the game of musical chairs. And they deserve criticism for that. Teams made moves, right? We know the Raiders were in on the quarterbacks of this draft and we'll get to when, you know, how they'll be on the quarterbacks of this draft and we'll get to when you know how they'll be on on the quarterbacks of the next draft but i think the raiders were a team that probably thought one of jj mccarthy

or michael panics would make it to them and that didn't happen and then they were sat there and i don't know i don't know what they thought of bo nicks but i had heard throughout the entire process that they were very in on both Penix and McCarthy. And a lot of people were very surprised with how those guys went in the draft. And I think the Raiders fall in that bucket. And then they go into this year with Gardner Minshew, who's really, really struggled.

I don't even think their offensive line is that bad where you look at the Raiders and go, well, they, you know, they doesn't have a chance to succeed out of the gate. This team had Devante Adams, Brock Bowers, Jacoby Myers. They need a running back really badly.

They need an average running back really badly. Zemir White and Alexander Madison was not the way they should have went into the season. It didn't work out for them. But they're a team that they have no identity. They have no stable force at quarterback. I guess Derek, I get that Derek Carr was there for a while, but they can never get over the hump with him, and I don't blame them for eventually moving on

and looking for greener grass, but it's just they haven't had a plan of how to get to that greener grass since they moved on from him. They've got caught star chasing, and in hindsight, I'm not saying that Devontae Adams' move was a bad move. It just ultimately didn't work out when you look at what they gave up to get him and what

transpired after that and they're a team that it feels like overall they've been very inconsistent on the back end of their defense for a long time too while they've had some big time talent up front starting with Max Crosby of course so when I look at the problems with the Raiders for a long time right now, it's that they don't have an identity of what they want to be and a way they build this team. Yeah. And I don't want to make too many excuses for the team, but you could see what they were going for and it just didn't work for ways that were predictable and a little bit unpredictable right I think that certainly what happened with with John Gruden was was an unpredictable part of this

and that's why I wanted to go back to Gruden because this team was getting better under John yeah they they started off really bad with a really bad record but again like I said they had moved on from Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper. And they were turning the page from a lot of those guys. And Gruden was bringing a lot of his guys in. And so that three-year stretch with Gruden, the team was getting better. And like I said, they started that year 3-0. And then they had lost two games. And they were sitting there at 3-2.

But the Raiders, obviously, they made the wild card even without John Gruden as their head coach. So when they hired Gruden, too, that was that 10 10 year, $100 million deal. This was their identity. Their identity was the former Superbowl winning head coach, John Gruden, and they gave him the keys and the team was getting better. And then all of a sudden, boom, the rug is just yanked out from underneath you. And so you go, okay, well, how do we recover from that? Well, they go after Josh McDaniels, which look, McDaniels was terrible when he was a head coach of the Denver Broncos. So you could have looked at that and said, we're not going to explore this.

But since his return to the Patriots, like they had had plenty of offensive success. They had been to Super Bowls. They had won the Super Bowls with Josh McDaniels. So even that, sure, it's hindsight. It's easy to say, oh, what a terrible move the McDaniels hiring was. But you're sitting there with Derek Carr getting older on a massive contract.

You're trying to make the most of him. You hire that offensive head coach because you've made so much offensive progress with this team you didn't want to lose it this is i believe after the henry ruggs incident as well because the henry ruggs incident happened in 2021 so it's like you throw that in there you were building your offense and then that completely unforeseen thing happens to you as well. And you hire McDaniels in 2022. You then trade a ton of stuff for Devontae Adams. Like they went all in on the offensive side of the ball.

And I'm not going to lie. Like that's also what I would have done. I would have leaned that direction. Now, would I have gone after McDaniels? Probably not. But again, I don't want to play hindsight too much with it because i understood the direction they were going and i also understood hiring dave ziegler right somebody who had had

chemistry with josh mcdaniels they wanted a pairing yeah and i think to your point the lack of identity comes from the lack of continuity that we have seen in this team you mentioned that the kansas city chiefs and what they are well they've had a lot of the same guys in the building for forever. They understand what they want. They know how to build the team. And I think the Raiders were trying to set that up and McDaniels, just as he has before imploded as a head coach, Derek Carl was not good with him. They go six and 11. They then let car out of the building. Devante's pissed because he just came over and he said, yeah, sure, I'll go reunite with my college teammate

where we broke records at Fresno State. And then boom, a year later, you're cutting the cord. You're saying we're done. You're yanking it. With no answer. You don't just rip cords out. You got to have answers. They let Carr out, who I've been clear on.

I'm not a huge car guy but you can't just a quarterback go well this isn't working let's get rid of him and then well now what so you have that you go you then go into the next it felt like it was it felt like it was just a sinking ship and you even went into the 2023 offseason wondering if they were going to fire mcdaniels after one year they don't because they thought that was crazy. And then they get eight games into the next season and they go, oh boy, all right. This is real bad. Now we got to do it.

So then they fire him. They go with the guy the locker room loves in Antonio Pierce. Patrick Graham's a defensive coordinator. The vibes were so high at the end of the season and they had some extra cap space and they had the 13th overall pick to go, well, wait a second. If we just get a quarterback quarterback here the defense is going to be good let's bring back Antonio Pierce you know it's rumored that Max Crosby had quite a bit to say you don't want to

piss off Max Crosby you don't want to lose Max Crosby so you hire Antonio Pierce but it's not like it's not like he didn't do good things last year he did he was really able to pick that team up when they were at their lowest that's the sign of a good head coach. And now you get into this year, you whiffed on a quarterback, you whiffed on the running game, you let Josh Jacobs out of the building after you sort of bungled that as well.

You go get Christian Wilkins, you bring in some other defensive players and now the defense is bad. So it's like, again, they've lacked identity.'ve lacked consistency but it's not without trying and there have been a lot of things that has happened with this organization think of the chandler jones thing right they signed chandler jones to a three-year 50 million dollar deal and then two years into that deal he keeps going through personal issues so bad. He's not even in the league now.

So it's like, I don't want to, I don't want to totally give the Raiders a pass here, but they did get the short end of the stick in a lot of different areas. Now we'll talk about the areas that they whiffed themselves, but it is worth at least noting and summarizing that it has not been all the raiders fault why things seem so bleak here it's been a lot of bad luck as well bad luck but i'll also counter and say one of their biggest issues is character evaluations they have had horrific character evaluations i don't just mean henry ruggs is obviously a situation that i mean do we even need to expand on it that what he did and how selfish that was is you know obviously a horrific horrific story but i also think they've missed on just

overall football character at times they've missed on picks that you just hear stories of guys you know that just didn't have what it takes and they drafted them two rounds earlier than everybody thought sure um very often and you brought up some of the big free agent signings or acquisitions they've made you know obviously you said chandler jones didn't work out now it really really didn't work out and i think that is a little bit bad luck because chandler jones had a long track record of success in the nfl and things went off the rail so that one i agree with you i think their college character evaluations though have been overall one of the bigger disasters in drafting over the last 10 years. Now that brings us to the drafting slash team building woes that this team has gone through. And brother, if you go back to 2016, it's hard to be this bad on purpose.

Yeah, it is. Do you remember ESPN's The Streak? Do you remember this? It was a thing that was like 10 years ago where it was before betting was really a thing. And you could go on ESPN and it was called The Streak. I remember this. And you would simply pick a game against the spread. And the idea was there was a leaderboard where you could see who the monthly winners were, the monthly top winners in the United States. How many games did you get in a row? And that was the streak. But then there was another leaderboard where you could try to purposefully get it wrong. And you could have like a loser streak,

but there was also a leaderboard for that. Cause that's in and of itself, a skill. The Raiders would be at the very top of this leaderboard for how they have drafted since 2016. They are the streak, they are the streak, but on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Connor,

they have six players, six that are notable from 2016 to 2021. Max Crosby, Colton Miller, Malcolm Koontz, Trayvon Merrig, Divine Diablo, Nate Hobbs. That's it. That's pretty insane. You got five draft classes, five whole draft classes, and you got six players. Four of their former first-round picks from 2016 to 2021 in that range aren't even in the league anymore.

Their other two are Colton Miller, who was good, and then Cleland Farrell, who was extremely overdrafted at pick number four, which you talked about the missing of the evaluation. From the 2016 and 2017 drafts, the only players that are still in the NFL, sorry, when I said players, that was giving them too much credit. It's player, it's one. From the 2016 and 2017 drafts,

there is one player that they drafted that is still in the NFL. It's Jad Ward. And they happened to trade him two years after they drafted him in 2018. So he hasn't even been on the team. It is the draft failure of this organization. It is hard to do on purpose. Tyree Wilson has not been what you have needed him to be as a first-round pick and a top-ten pick.

Oh, man. It just, that is the area. Now, we'll get into some roster building stuff. And Tommy T, Tommy Telesco, their new general manager, I want to give him a little bit of credit. His last draft looks like he might go three for three with the first three picks. It looks a lot better than the million many million before it you talk about the floor of a team right when something doesn't go right for you a head coach gets fired you lose a

star player due to injury something unforeseen happens like one of the many instances that we've already talked about here on the show the reason why it falls off so drastically for the raiders is because of how bad they have been acquiring talent in the NFL draft. Make no mistake, we are a draft show, but how you win Super Bowls in the NFL is by drafting well. And no team has been worse at that than the Las Vegas Raiders since 2016. It just seems so hard to miss on this many first round picks in a row because get away from the fact that you know you nailed it where there's just not a lot of guys from five to eight years ago is left in the league they didn't they don't obviously hit on a lot of depth guys or

depths of their draft max crosby is the standout of course you know hunter renfro had one good season it's hard to believe he's out of the league already. That one I don't get. That's a weird one. Dude, three years ago, two years ago, whatever it was. Three years ago, he had 1,000 yards. Derwin James is calling him like a top five wide receiver to cover. He can't even get a job right now.

That's crazy to me. But the problem with the Raiders is, and their fans know this, their fans always say it all the time, and I think they side with the draft analysts at this point. They go so off the cuff compared to the consensus rankings. Just their first-round picks. Forget all the misses later on and not finding them. Mayock and Gruden did for sure.

I mean, Garyon Conley in 2017. Colton Miller was the one good one. They took him a little early, and he really developed into a good tackle. 100%. Yeah. Cleland Farrell and Jonathan Abram in the first round. Farrell they took fourth, but Jonathan Abram even just in the first round is an insane miss. Then you had Ruggs and Damon Arnett is, i think the one of the worst first round duos i've ever

seen i think manziel and was it justin gilbert oh that one's bad too that one came to mind but i mean that was really bad you don't want to be in the combo that's about as bad of talent evaluation as you can get there with Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel. Like mental makeup stuff. Yeah, at least Ruggs was an NFL talent. I thought Arnett was an egregious top 20 pick. That was crazy. Mayock and Gruden were in their own bag.

They were like, no, they didn't care about consensus at all. And I say that because they had a full scouting staff. There's no way the full scouting staff also had these off-the-cuff opinions. I mean, so out there opinions that Arnett was a top 20 pick. Alex Leatherwood, a top 20 pick. It's really crazy. And I know you were really low on Tyree Wilson compared to consensus and you're looking right about that.

They took him seventh overall. So, and then even this year, the draft looks good, but it's just, you do sit there and go, man, like should they have just moved up and gotten one of the quarterbacks?

Time will tell. So they, they, they, they did, they, they traded, they traded Khalil Mack in 2018,

and they got two first-round picks for him. One of those first-round picks was John Abram. The other one was Josh Jacobs. Josh Jacobs is good, objectively. Yeah, but even he, like, you took a first-round running back, and he is not the profile of a first round running back i don't know i i like josh jacobs you got to affect the pass game i thought he could he has so

here's the thing an explosive like hasn't in the nfl he dude did you did you did you hear the staff that he caught his first touchdown but that wasn't't him at Alabama. He could receive it. He could, he was a good receiver at Alabama. So I don't hate that. I don't, I don't, I don't totally hate that one. The John Abrams. No, no, no. That's one of the, that's one of the better ones for sure.

The John Abrams one was a big mess. The Cleveland Pharaoh one is yeah. Crazy. Even the next year, man, like even outside the 2020, the 2020 season, Henry Ruggs, David Arnett, obviously I think Damon Arnett was bad. Then they don't pick him the second round. They took Lin Bowden Jr. in the third round. Yeah.

What are you doing? I know, and I liked him as a gadget guy, but they needed a legitimate wide receiver, and they took a gadget guy that they gave up on after otas yes that too they gave up on like you clearly had no plan for him yeah you had no plan 100 it's yeah it was it's it was a really tough run for the raiders drafting until this year it really was and that's how you get here when your your roster is so thin because you just haven't gotten any cost-effective depth pieces or even guys to extend. They don't even have guys to extend.

It's like, okay, Colton Miller and Max Crosby, we'd like them to be here. And they're the obvious second contract candidates, but we're going to get into sort of where they're at cap-wise and some of the players that they have under contract. Dude, it's basically just them and Christian Wilkins. I was going to i guess that's why you can go out and get a christian wilkins it's those three because you're not signing your guys second contracts and the hit rate of second contracts is so low on this team and um yeah it's dude can you can you can you imagine what this team because when when did they draft Crosby?

Which year was this? It's probably five years ago now. They drafted him in 2019. So that was the year after they traded Khalil Mack. Man, can you imagine if this team even just had Max Crosby and Khalil Mack to still lean on? That'd be crazy. Because Khalil Mack's still doing it. I know.

So that's always kind of been the issue, right, with the Raiders too, is that when you change regimes so much, and take it from me, I'm an expert at this, you know, the years I've watched the Jets. When you change regimes so much, even the guys that you hit on as an organization that are your foundational pieces, if you have a new regime that didn't draft them, they're not necessarily willing to commit to them. So then you move on from the guys that you thought were your hits. Remember the franchise tag disaster with Josh Jacobs that went on so long that Jacobs missed all his summer. When he came back, he was a month

or two behind and he had a shitty, he had a shitty season because of that. But if they had just realized like, Hey, this is one of our hits. He's a guy we like around here. Let's commit to him. Now, Josh Jacobs wouldn't have missed camp and he would have been fine that year, in my opinion. So, and they traded Khalil Mack. They didn't commit to him as an organization. And then also guys don't want to commit to you because you're not building a successful organization I know part of it is Devonta Adams wanted to go play with Aaron Rodgers but Devonta Adams was also looking around like we get all we all have Netflix he's looking around at the quarterbacks that they gave him after Derek Carr and he's like fuck I'm going to die on this field. We all have Netflix, he said. One way or the other.

That's the problem with, like I said, I'm an expert in this field of always changing regimes. Of stealing Netflix accounts? They made it harder these days. They do. They actually do collect my dime. We have our own now. It's just the game is the game. Damn, you got it like that?

They got me. You got it like that? Oh, yeah. But you got your own Netflix account, buddy? I got my own Netflix where the profile I click on says Connor. Whoa! And I look around at the family, which is just my wife and my dog. And I'm like, y'all like that?

And they just look at me and they're like, can you please go away? Can you go find another podcast to record just turn the show on yeah just shut up and turn the show on look so i i do i think that this past draft has been better but oh yeah it's um you know even telesco like telesco makes you a little bit nervous right there's a reason why it was available there's a reason why it was available. There's a reason why the chargers moved on from when you look at Telesco's drafts over the last two years before this past one, the out the Raiders first round,

first round pick was, was Zion Johnson. And then they didn't have a second round pick. Then third round, it's JT woods. Fourth round is Isaiah Spiller, Odi Ogbonia, uh,

Jamari Sawyer in the sixth round. You go to the next year 2023 quentin johnston uh tweet to a below two good henley at linebacker i think it'd be good but then it's you know it's just the depth players the day three players i don't think are very solid for for what and and that's really that's a lot of times when you make your bread and butter with with the general manager like you're supposed to be able to hit at a decently high rate on the first round. Second round, you're trying to get contributing players and potential starters from. And then day three, you're hoping to get a lot of players who really help out the health and the depth part of your practice squad and your 53 game day roster.

And I don't feel like Telesco did a great job there. I think at least he's a candidate to have gotten things off to a good start during his tenure with the Raiders. Cause Brock Bowers, I mean, is, it looks like he could be the top tight end in the NFL this year. Uh, DJ Glaze has looked decent at offensive tackle. They might have a starting offensive tackle there opposite Colton Miller with DJ Glaze. And then Jackson Powers Johnson, I think is going to develop into a good starting center for this team as well so it's uh hopeful moving forward but you know now we got to get into what the coaching staff is like and what the gentleman we i don't think tom telesco is really going anywhere so no he's probably here to stay but is antonio pierce after signing a contract

to be the full-time head coach last offseason is he going to be the guy moving forward we've got some candidates that we might have as potential replacements if we don't think that but before we get to that best part about football season guys is checking out the post-game stats which touch which wide receiver scored more than two touchdowns which quarterbacks shoot for more or less than 300 yards if you think you know what's going to happen before kickoff you got to play pick six from DraftKings, an official daily fantasy partner of the NFL. You download the DraftKings pick six app now. Select between two to six players, all right?

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Void where prohibited. One per new customer. Non-withdrawable Pick 6 credits expire in six months. Limited time offer. See terms at pick6.draftkings.com slash promos. Alright, so that's a little bit of the oral history, the lore of how we got here with the las vegas raiders now we're going to get into more of what connor and i would do moving forward so

that's what a lot of these fixture franchises about we're going to kind of come together and talk about what we would do here uh connor what do you think about the coaching staff luke gets he's the offense coordinator patrick Graham's, the defensive coordinator gets, he is new. Patrick Graham has been there the last two years. And Antonio Pierce was obviously the linebackers coach last year. Then he was signed to be the full-time head coach this past off season. Do you think he sticks around?

Do you think he gets another crack at this? Or do you think they're looking to move on and get a different head coach next season? I think he gets another crack. I think that I don't think Mark Davis is going to be overly eager to move on from him after this one year that's been chaotic. Did you know Joe Philbin's on the staff, by the way? It's just a little fun fact for you.

Yes, Joe Philbin is their senior offensive assistant. Damn. I think this is... They're going to get some better plays out there. Come on, Joe. What are you doing? I think they're going to go the Bears' route. I think they're going to wipe out their offensive staff, and I think they're going to staple a new OC

to a first round quarterback. Now, I don't think that's a lock. I think it's far from a lock. I think I'd call it like 70-30. 70% chance Pierce stays, but they have a new, a pretty new offensive staff. Yeah. 30% chance that he's gone and they hire an offensive

coach that's just paired with the quarterback i think what do you think i think i i lean that way as well now obviously we're sitting here it's it's the middle of october so yeah locking change if the vibes get terrible like if they only win two more games they end up finishing what's the math now four and 13 on the season you might it might feel like they're going in a different direction so you know when i look at this team though i think it will be heavily offensive focused whether antonio pierce is there or not that's my thing too and when I think about potential changes in the coaching staff I think the gets he's going to be out of there I think they'll probably move on from Patrick Graham as well because the defense just hasn't been good

enough and somebody's got to be a scapegoat so it does sort of feel like that Chicago Bears situation where Pierce might stay because you don't want to fire him because you don't want to be then paying two head coaches to not coach your football team, including whoever they would go out and get. And let's face it, if you're going out to get somebody, it probably costs you a pretty penny because the candidates that I have for this team to be their head coach,

if Antonio Pierce is not there, Ben Johnson is the one that we talk about. I have talked about the last two years the offensive coordinator for the las vegas or sorry the detroit lions but he has said no to unstable situations over the last two years i cannot imagine he's going to say yes to the raiders outside of if he grew up a raiders fan that's right or if tom brady becomes a minority owner and somehow finds a way to also be the quarterback of the team outside of that i don't think the ben johnson's gonna come over no we

have to have the honest ben johnson combo and this is a good time to do it a lot of the teams that are going to be our first couple of fix your franchises feel pretty comfortable saying ben johnson won't want to go there because if somebody keeps showing you who they are, believe them. He keeps turning down offers for head coaching jobs, right? He could have been the commander's coach. They had the second pick in the draft. Like it was all like, Hey dude,

build it your way here in a good, in a really good quarterback draft. I don't think, I don't think this quarterback draft is as good as last year's. I don't know if the Raiders will be in line to take one because there's a hint. There's a lot of crappy teams right now that'll need one. Maybe Antonio Pierce coaches them to a couple more wins than other P other

teams. Like it's a tough sell for a guy that just shows no interest in wanting to go anywhere right now. I think it's okay. By the way, that's like, we need to get over this. no interest in wanting to go anywhere right now. That's okay, by the way. We need to get over this. If my team doesn't get Ben Johnson, we're doomed. Because look at the commanders.

They're pretty freaking awesome right now. Dan Quinn was a great hire. Dan Quinn was a great hire. We talked about for two straight years on this very program of Fix Your Franchise, I kept saying, Dan Quinn, somebody hire Dan Quinn. And here we are. Look at him. The Broncos wanted him, right? And he went back to Dallas.

He interviewed with the Broncos. I think they wanted him. I don't remember how serious that was. Yeah. Either way. Good job, commanders. Yeah. So, you know, and if you're not going to get Ben Johnson.

You're sure? No, I'm just kidding. No, no, no. You're not at all. You're not at all.'re not at all i've got i've got a plan i got a plan okay let's i'm excited to hear this or i got the beginnings of a plan so mike vrabel and bill bellichick are two options right veteran coaches proven coaches you can go that direction the issue is they are sort of cut from the same cloth if you will than antonio pierce now if you just want to say that straight up they are better head coaches than

antonio pierce that's fine i won't push back on you i thought it was crazy that variable got fired last year i think he's one of the best coaches that's not out there belichick i don't know man they already tried the patriot thing, and it makes me believe that they wouldn't go after Belichick or they wouldn't go after Mike Vrabel. Belichick feels like the guy, if you do it for anybody, you'd get the brain trust of the Patriots way and you bring it over and maybe Mark Davis likes that. But those two guys are, I think, at least worth calling out. However, the plan that I actually want to talk about here is if Antonio Pierce stays, you have to do something at offensive coordinator.

And I really like getting Todd Munkin from the Baltimore Ravens to come be your offensive coordinator. Now, some people might say, why would Todd Munkin from the Baltimore Ravens to come be your offensive coordinator. Now, some people might say, why would Todd Munkin do that? Why would Todd Munkin go from coaching Lamar Jackson and the MVP, maybe a back-to-back MVP and more, you know, playoff runs? Why would Todd Munkin do that? I am some people, by the way. The reason Munkin would do that is because he would get to become offensive coordinator of this team and he is very clearly next in line to get that head coach job if Antonio Pierce falters at all

whatsoever next offseason. So John Harbaugh is not going anywhere with the Ravens and it doesn't seem like Munkin is getting enough looks every offseason to warrant him maybe being a head coach like he might want to be. So I think that Munkin making the lateral move, it sounds crazy. But I think if you are keeping Antonio Pierce and you are not, like I said, having to fire a head coach and pay him to not coach your team, you're already still, I think, paying McDaniels to not coach your football team and then hire a third head coach. Something that would be a lot cheaper is instead making Todd Monk the highest paid offensive coordinator in the NFL and getting him to come over,

giving him the interim head coach tag and basically saying, if it doesn't work with Antonio Pierce, you are our guy. You become the head coach of this football team. So if he wants to be a head coach again, or sorry, for the first time, I should say, well, no, he was a head coach in college. So I guess I'll go back to, I'll redact what I said. You might be able to lure Munkin over. I think that that is an option. I wonder if that is an option with Joe Brady as well with the Buffalo Bills. Now, maybe Joe Brady is good enough where he's going to get head coaching looks anyways, but this is what I would think about here. And let me be very clear. Let me be very clear.

If Antonio Pierce gets fired, these are two guys, Joe Brady and Todd Munkin, that I would make candidates to be the head coach anyways. So I'm just trying to find out a way if you can have your cake and eat it too, because I agree with you, it doesn't feel like they're going to move on from Antonio Pierce, but you got to do something. And so that is my offer to them. Make one of these offensive coordinators,

have them make a lateral move and like double their salary to do so it's my thoughts what do you think i think it's a long shot but because i think you're a hater it's fine i am you know it's a great idea you're stomping out my dreams i am i just hear the ravens fans like screaming at us but no it's the right idea i just don't know if they have the clout to pull that off when if, if I'm Todd Munkin, I'm going to work with the MVP of the league instead. I actually think Todd Munkin is going to get looks this off season.

I heard he interviewed, I heard he interviewed really, really well a couple of years ago and just came up short. And I think that his track record since getting those head coaching interviews a couple of years ago, I believe that was 2020. He'll, record since getting those head coaching interviews a couple years ago i believe that was 2020 um he'll he'll get another shot after this year i think the ravens are the ravens might be the best team in football so right eventually that's just at some point they're like hey maybe we

should look at this guy brady that is an interesting one because that does give you a little bit more power, but you're right. He might be young enough that he just gets those looks anyway, like Dable did from the Bills as a head coach. You're on the right path. I just don't know how plausible it is. The Raiders have a lot of problems right now offensively that they can get an up-and-comer, but can they get somebody established that already has a better job?

You'd have to pay. You'd have to pay and you'd have to get permission. And the guy would have to want to leave and he'd have to not be under contract anymore because it's a lateral move. So it gets blocked. If you're under contract, it's they, you're right.

They have their work cut out for them. It's going to be kind of tricky. And to be honest with you, this whole conversation leads me to think, well, maybe they do need to move on from pierce because they won't be able to get an offensive coordinator because it's a lateral move and they need to hire a head coach maybe right maybe you have to go higher todd

munkin as your head coach i'm not kidding no i know so yeah it's actually opened a really interesting door because i think you have the exact right idea i don't know the roadmap to get there is possible without it being the head coach spot, which makes me kind of reevaluate my 70-30 thing. But my 70-30 thing is how Mark Davis is thinking, which I hope he doesn't think that way. I have two other wildcard names for you. Actually, I have three other wildcard names for you for specifically offensive coordinator, right? If the Todd Munker or the Joe Brady move is sort of a pipe dream and it would never happen.

If they're keeping Antonio Pierce, I got three names for you. Dirk Cutter is one of them. He was a head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for three years. They had a very potent offense. Todd Munkin was his offensive coordinator those years, and they really lit up the scoreboard. They just couldn't figure it out in the win column to come together as a team. He was in the offensive coordinator of the Falcons for a couple years after that. And right now, Connor, I don't know if you know this, he is the offensive

coordinator for Boise State. No, I was wondering where he is. What a wild turn of events. So he was the head coach at Boise State in 1998 to 2000. And after he got let go by the falcons he just went back to boise state as a as an offensive analyst and yeah then this year he took over as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach so now he just gets to say in the headset uh yeah hand action genti the friggin ball uh and then that's basically how the offense goes for for dirt cutter but he's got nfl experience he maybe he's 65 years old so I don't know maybe he's just looking to you know keep it low-key but he is somebody the the next name is Chip Kelly okay right now we're getting for now we're getting wild Chip

Kelly hold on Chip Kelly oh I like it he was with UCLA obviously and I think Chip Kelly wanted some offers somewhere else I think he Kelly wanted some offers somewhere else. I think he either wanted to be a head coach somewhere else in college football, make a move up, or get back to the NFL. And I don't think he got either of those. That's why he took a step down, and he is Ohio State's offensive coordinator right now. So I think Chip Kelly would be willing to go to an offensive coordinator spot at the NFL level because it's basically like

capitalism at this point. You are what somebody says that you are worth. So he might be able, he might be willing to get that OC spot for them. We know he's got NFL experience and a lot of just coaching experience overall. And then the final one is Dan Mullen, right? Does Dan Mullen want to get back into coaching when he was the head coach of Florida for all of his recruiting blunders? They were one of the top five, top 10 scoring teams in the country for three straight years. into coaching when he was the head coach of Florida for all of his recruiting blunders. They were one of the top five, top 10 scoring teams in the country for three straight years. The man knows how to coach football. It felt like he wanted to make a jump to the NFL, but it didn't happen. He could be somebody who I think could be their offensive coordinator as well. So those are three non-pipe dream names that I think might be possible if you're sticking

with Antonio Pierce and you want to make an upgraded offense coordinator I think you're onto it but that's the route they would go dive into the college ranks Dirk Cutter is such an interesting one I did not I did not even think of him didn't know he was back at Boise uh pressing the halfback blast button to Ashton just slamming the button just what what do you want to do? Halfback dive, halfback dive. And it's just power again. Power again. Imagine Dirk Cutter on the headset getting more intense as the game goes on. But like, it's really not that big of a moment there. Ashton Jepsen's run for 200 yards and he's just screaming and run plays.

Oh, I love it. It's good stuff. Here's one for you. And this is me, like kind of trolling, but not really. Okay. When they draft Shadur Sanders. Oh, don't stop. Pat Shermer is their offensive coordinator brought with him from Colorado.

All right. I thought you were going to say Dion. So that's a lot. No, Dion's not calling offensive plays. Dion's definitely there in some capacity, but they just bring pat schirmer with him who is shader's offensive coordinator right now and i kind of trolling because like speaks for itself but kind of not trolling because schirmer's coached offense in the nfl for yes yeah

he's coached offense in the nfl for two decades i mean i don't think he's good i didn't know he was really bad with the giants but colorado's moving the ball they got a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball i'm i'm just saying it's not what i would do but don't be shocked if you hear rumblings of that i think the raiders are just the shadur plan is just a thing for the raiders i'm getting ahead of myself we'll have to talk about it because of this topic i was gonna say we will get will get to that with the three-round mock draft at the end. Before we did get into the roster, so that's coaching staff. That's our situation there.

We're going to get into the roster next. We'll talk about some cap space, some guys that are there, and then we will get into that mock draft. But before we do that, the show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Think about a time when maybe you didn't feel yourself, right? You were hiding behind a mask. You were wearing a costume. October, it's Halloween.

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That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash NFLSE. You want to hear how much of a neighborhood dad with no kids I've become? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I got up during your ad entry to look out my window because I have I have a neighbor who I like. Let me make that very clear. But he's a little loose and wild with the leaf blower. OK, and I definitely noticed that he just wildly pushes all of his leaves to one of my neighbor's houses because I think they come from the tree they have.

Oh, hell yeah. So I've been kind of observing this for a while and he's out now. So it's just making sure it's not it's not now making its way to my yard. Of course, he's out leaf blowing again. I'm like, I want no part of the leaf wars like i'll do my own leaf blowing and raking and like i don't care if it comes from your tree or that tree like i'll just clean up my yard i'm not i'm not like a neighborhood watch guy it sounds like you are actually but i i did have to get up and observe what the latest is in the middle of the podcast i really i really become a neighborhood dad with no kids. Lawn wars.

You are the great houses of the dune leaf wars in your neighborhood. That's what this is right now. Oh, man. At the crossing. All right. Let's get into the Raiders roster here. Hands on the hips. Looking out the window. Yeah, 100%.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jeans shorts tucked in you wear jean shorts new new balance you know the ankle socks a little bit up you just that's how you got it that's how you got to do it three for dale shirt obviously uh all right cap space and free agency for this team the good news is raiders fans and this is the fun part about the podcast 108 million in projected cap for 2025 that's the fourth most in the podcast. 108 million in projected cap for 2025. That's the fourth most in the NFL. When you look at the players on their roster that have the highest cap hits right now,

Christian Wilkins obviously signed a big deal last offseason. So he's going to be high on the list. He is. He's number one. He's 33 million on the cap next year. Max Crosby is 28 million on the cap next year. Colton Miller. He's got two years left.

Actually, next year might be the last year of his deal. He's 15 million on the cap next year Colton Miller he's got two years left actually next year might be the last year of his deal he's 15 million on the cap then he got Jacoby Myers who's 14 million on the cap Gardner Minshew is 14 million on the cap and I did I did see that Chandler Jones is still a void year next year with 8 million on the cap but you only have five players on the roster that are making more than 10 mil a year on the cap that's about as flexible as it gets folks some cut candidates that actually you know what i'm just i want to go to you first before we get to some like cut candidates and expiring contracts and we can get a potential free agency plan just what overall thoughts on this roster here for the uh for the

raiders just sort of like where they're at. They have some pieces on offense. Obviously, Bowers is going to be a foundational piece. You look at the offensive line. Once again, I think they've been overall fine. Ironically, like Colton Miller has been a staple there. Don't par them. Good.

Yep. They drafted glaze this year. Who's played a lot for them? Jordan Meredith has played a lot for them at guard. And these guys have played fine. I don't look at this group, and I didn't even mention JPJ, who's a rookie this year as well, Jackson Powers Johnson. I think this offensive line is in a totally adequate place.

It's not like a rookie quarterback is going to come into this situation and be like, oh my God, how is he going to stay alive? Like, look at Drake May with the Patriots. I know the commanders were concerned with Jaden Daniels, but Daniels is so elusive that it's actually been okay. Even the rib injury wasn't from him just getting battered in the pocket or anything like that. So that's, I'm trying to come up with some positive thoughts here for the roster. So that's where they're, I like, I like what they have on offense.

Obviously up front is where the defensive identity is because you have Crosby, you signed Christian Wilkins. Robert Spillane has been and he's a free agent after this year. But yes, he's been a really nice find for them. Yes, he's been a staple in the middle of their defense. And then after that, personally, I'm not overly tied to anybody else on this defense i think bennett's been good did you mention bennett i did not jacorian bennett's been good he needs he needs to tackle better but like he has at least had a nice little second year bump here um nate hobbs i i think is is good for this team he's he's gonna be a free agent or at least he

has been good um throughout the course of his rookie contract but I think Jaquarian Bennett is somebody who I like you know Crosby Colton Miller I agree with you the offensive line's good Brock Bowers is good uh Michael Mayer has been hurt so that's tough I like Jacoby Myers Jacoby Myers you can't really cut him he doesn't know he's a reliable wide receiver in a room that needs reliability and they're gonna have to add talent and his contract is also not like it does not behoove you to cut him like you will have more dead money than not so he's not going anywhere but when i yeah go ahead trevor i was just gonna say when i look at this team i think the needs are just along all the offenses out of the ball. Like I think this entire off season has to be focused on offense.

Quarterback is your most dire need wide receiver as well. We need number one Adams. Yeah. Even with Brock Bowers, like you need, you need it. You need a number one wide receiver to help out this team and then running back. Like you got to get way better at running back too. And that's easy. We'll get into free agents in a second um but to me those are the three big needs on the team quarterback wide receiver running back that's what i think that you got to hit pretty hard especially when it comes to a draft focus do

you agree i completely agree and the nice news is you know you could make a big splash for a wide receiver you could draft a quarterback and you can find you could add a veteran running back and draft a running back and you have a new backfield. So I actually think they're, I'm kind of excited about this job. And I know it's Telesco. It's not like somebody's coming in and taking it over, but I don't look at the Raiders and go and yeah, hitting on the quarterback is really difficult. I'm not going to sugarcoat that, but they can significantly improve with the things they need. There's actually supply. Yes.

Typically. That's what I'm trying to say. Yes. There's usually not a supply of offensive linemen. There's usually not always a supply of a top edge rusher. They have those things. So there's some, there's some optimism here. And I,

and I think the free agency decently lines up sort of like what you said with what this team wants to do. Now you mentioned that spillane who i think is playing really well for them at linebacker he's an expiring contract but they have a couple of other ones marcus epps also an expiring contract i don't know if they would bring him back trayvon merrig is an expiring contract i think they would bring him back okay same with divine diablo malcolm coons was playing really well before he got hurt so i think that both of those guys will be back nate hobbs, I would think would be back as well,

but it's not like bringing those players back is breaking the bank for you. You're just, to me, like keeping a good core of your team together. So Raiders fans, please let us know if you think that we're way off track, but in my opinion of Spillane, Epps, Merrig, Diablo, Koontz, Hobbs, those guys on on expiring contracts I think the only one that

you maybe aren't going to resign is Marcus EPS or maybe people think that no you're absolutely resigning Marcus EPS so like maybe you're bringing back all of them so the defensive depth of your team I think you're all right now you still need you still need uh Tyree Wilson to play better like yeah there's no denying that Tyree Wilson just has to play better you draft him at number eight overall for a reason he just he has to play better I think Christian Wilkins is obviously good when he's out there Max Crosby's Max Crosby but I guess before we get into free agency we could have this conversation it doesn't seem like Max wants to be traded, would you trade him?

If you were running the Raiders, now obviously I think, look, personal feelings, I want to take those out of it. Burning a bridge, all that, I don't want to talk about all that. Objectively, would you trade Max Crosby if you had the opportunity to get, if the Detroit Lions called you up and said, we're giving you two first round picks and a third round pick for Max Crosby. Are you taking it? No,

I'm going to keep Max Crosby because I am. My goal with the Raiders is to establish a new culture. And a lot of that, those young pieces are going to be on the offensive side of the ball. And I need stability in that locker room that also knows. And I know it hasn't been a ton of winning for them but a guy that does know how to win and crosby is 27 years old he is on a relatively manageable contract over the next couple years for a top flight pass rusher these pass rush contracts are going to explode yeah his cap hit actually goes down over the next two years.

It does. It spikes under 30. I would want him to be a part of the turnaround, and I think Max Crosby takes a lot of pride in wanting to be there for the turnaround. I don't have confidence I'm going to find my Max Crosby replacement with one of those assets. If he was 29 or 30, it's a different conversation.

I think Max Crosby has five big years left of him in the NFL. replacement with one of those assets. If he was 29 or 30, it's a different conversation. I think Max Crosby has five big years left of him in the NFL. If I'm the Raiders, I'm looking at this and going, I think by 2026, we could be a problem. Is Max Crosby still going to be Max Crosby at 29? Yeah, he is. So I'm going to keep Max Crosby in this situation and have him be a big part of our turnaround and have him be our team leader and be a big piece of our identity because their biggest problem is they have no identity year after year and I'm not trying to detract from that any further I'm trying to stack it and build on top of it you know I was thinking of being a real sicko and trading Max for this exercise so that we could have an extra first round pick to deal with and another third round pick to deal with,

which would have made two first round picks, a second round pick, and three third round picks because of the Devontae Adams trade as well. But the more I thought of it, the more I agreed with you. I don't think it really behooves them to trade Max Crosby. I don't. I just don't think. You could try. I mean, tearing it really behooves them to trade Max Crosby. I don't. I just don't think. You could try.

I mean, tearing it down to the studs, they're basically already there at this point anyways. You can't move on from Christian Willikens because you just signed him. There's no reason moving on from Colton Miller. In fact, when we get into free agency strategy in a second, I'm going to tell you that that's where I really want to spend my money on this team and my emphasis on this team. But I would not trade Crosby. I wouldn't. Now this edge rush group is deep. So if you traded Crosby for two first round picks and a

third round pick from the Detroit Lions, it's going to be a late first round pick. There are edge rushers that I think you could get at the back end of the first round this year because i think that's the the feeling of this edge rush group is it's not as top heavy but it is more as deep so like back end of the first round early parts of the second round you could probably get yourself a nice edge rusher to replace him but like you said where you're trying to go for this team and a winning window that you're trying to really set up in 2026 crosby can be a part of that and i don't think you're going to get for this team and a winning window that you're trying to really set up in 2026, Crosby can be a part of that.

And I don't think you're going to get one of these edge rushers in the back end of the first round that's going to be like a Max Crosby. So I wouldn't move him either. I would love to hear from Raiders fans. Anybody, shoot, even not Raiders fans, just draft enthusiasts out there listening to this show, do some mock drafts for us where you in fact trade Crosby off of this team and tell us the mock draft results of a three round mock draft.

And let's see it in the comment section. Let's see if we can actually visualize it and look at it and go, all right, maybe I would move them because that's a pretty good dream that you're setting up there. Would love for that to be a little bit of an exercise that the addicts do here on this show. When it comes to free agency, I mentioned it, $108 million in free agency money. You figure a good chunk of that's going to be bringing back those six guys, five or six guys that I mentioned to keep the backbone of your defense there and up and running, but they'll still have plenty of money afterwards. Connor, I think if they want to hit quarterback and free agency again, I don't advise it, but I think Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, those are the two that are the best

available when you look at the potential free agent market right now. I, in my opinion, that doesn't entice me enough. Does it entice you? Are you intrigued at the quarterback market at all? You think they're all in on the draft? I'd be all in on the draft i would make sure and i understand aiden o'connell's to still be there so maybe he's that solution but i would i would rather have a veteran backup in the room to be a voice for whoever they draft i always like that idea you know and that market could go a lot of different ways when you look at free agency but i mean the names out there are andy dalton jacoby brissett joe flacco um jamis winston but no i would be all in on the draft and i would get a veteran to sit behind that player and kind of help him along i wouldn't i don't think that's fair to ask of aiden o'connell

who is still playing for his nfl career yeah i I do agree with you that I would avoid that. Now, when it comes to wide receiver, you could go out and get a wide receiver. They should. T. Higgins? T. Higgins. Stephon Diggs? Chris Godwin?

T. Higgins because of the age. I mean, I think T. Higgins is the obvious one that you would love to go get. Diggs will be 32. Godwin will be approaching 30, coming off a really bad injury. Feel bad for Chris Godwin, man. I love watching him play.

I would be in on Higgins, and I think it's doable. I really do. That's the play. I'd go get T. Higgins and have him be my number one for my quarterback. And there's not really... I I mean some of the other options that are out there in free agency you know like Keenan Allen Amari Cooper which would be funny Brandon Cooks no DeAndre Hopkins just

got traded no then you get into like Mike Williams yeah Beckham Jr., Tyler Boyd. Yeah, guys that don't really move the needle for me that I don't think they'd be going out to get. Greg Dortch. 2-2 Atwell. Okay. You actually had me at Dortch. I was like, ah, well, and then you threw out 2-2. I'm like, ah, wait a second.

Dortch is a fine player. He's a fine slot. But Brock Bauer should play the slot. No, you get Trey Turner or Trey Tucker on this team. Right. There you go. You don't need him. No, forget him. It's C. Higgins.

So I would take it. I'd take it. Yeah. All right. So let's move forward and say, let's get T. Higgins for this football team. Okay? So in free agency, I think we're bringing back a lot of those guys we mentioned, and we're adding T. Higgins.

Now, are you going to add a veteran running back i'm not i am so who are you gonna add naji harris is out there giovante williams is out there james connor is out there if you want to sort of go towards like the top of the market well aaron jones is but i don't think he's gonna go to the raiders no like aj dylan's still there. Nick Chubb would be out there. Oh, I would take Nick Chubb. I don't think he would go there. I don't think he would either. I think he's staying in Cleveland.

I would love Nick Chubb from a character perspective and just what he brings to the team. You know who I would go get? I think I'd go get James Conner. Now, let me put this in perspective. I'm not paying James Con Connor $7 million a year. I'm assuming at age 30, James Connor is going to take a one-year deal for incentives.

This is the market I'm playing in because I'm drafting a guy that is eventually going to be my number one running back, but I want a veteran that can play all three downs. So I would want either James Connor. Javante is a weird one. He's had a weird career. He has. Najee will get paid more than I want to pay.

I think the league likes Najee a lot more than the public likes Najee. Yeah. Yeah, I would try to see if I can get James Conner on a one-year deal. That would be my move. I would like that if you can get him for the right cash. So maybe you're bringing in James Connor as well. Cause I don't hate that idea. There's not a lot of other running backs that would entice me.

He's so underrated. It's crazy. Oh, totally. Totally. I definitely agree with you. He would be great for this football team. So let's say they bring in T Higgins.

I'll give you James Connor. Thank you. Offensive line is where I am next, because when I look at this team, I want this to be the emphasis of the, of the team yeah let DJ Glaze play it right tackle I think he could be a starting right tackle for you at least he's shown some flashes that he might be Jordan Meredith this is a pretty good swing depth

interior offensive lineman we've even seen that this year Dylan Parham's a good guy that you could play at a couple of different spots Jackson Powers Johnson's going to be at least a guard or a center for you and then you got Colton Miller on the other side. To me, go make the splash and get a really solid offensive line out there. Zach Martin, if you can get him, he's a free agent. I understand he's not the Zach Martin of old. It's still Zach freaking Martin. Go get Zach Martin if you can make that happen. James Daniels from Pittsburgh. He's been really good. He's in the last year of a three-year deal. And obviously he got hurt. So he is out for the season. He tore his Achilles. So that goes into it. But James Daniels is playing some good football. If you go get James Daniels

to play next to Dylan Parham and Jackson Powers Johnson, you got Cole Miller on one side and you got DJ Glaze on the other. You got Meredith as a backup interior offensive lineman. That's a good start, man. That's a really good start to lineman. That's a good start, man. That's a really good start to a season. That's a really good – and maybe you end up – maybe we end up drafting a guy here that we could get somewhere else. I think Patrick McCurry, since he went from right tackle into left guard for the Baltimore Ravens, has been a nice option there. I think you could get him potentially as a left guard because he is a free agent.

But to me, I'd love for them to, as long as James, because James Daniels ain't that old. No, probably 27. He's 27. I know he's coming off the Achilles, but man, I'd take the flyer on James Daniels for how well he was playing. If you think JPJ could be a full-time center, that's the move is to go get a guard.

Because I don't think they have the answer at center right now and james daniels can play center right he can play center for you so interior offensive lineman i'd make an ad there so that's what i would want to do so free agency so we're keeping to wrap it up before we get to the three-round mock draft. We're keeping Max Crosby. We're signing the defensive guys that are up for second contracts. We're getting T. Higgins. We're getting James Conner. And we're going to get James Daniels.

I'll throw one more name at you, by the way. No. Yeah. If they let... Oh, man. Didn't expect that one, did you? No, I wasn't ready. I just got bullied. All right, what do we got? that one, did you? No, I wasn't ready. I just got bullied. All right, what do you got?

If they let Mary walk, I'd try to get Buda Baker. Ooh. Right? I mean. I don't hate it. A little more playmaking on the back end of your defense. He's 29. He'll be 29 at free agency.

I love Buda Baker. I don't think they're going to let him out. Okay. Because I got to think that Gannon's got plans for him as the guy. Yeah. I hope so. But I don't hate where your mind is at, because that would be the one other spot that I would like to make a splash.

Yeah, a little bit more range and playmaking. Create some turnovers. Help out your front yep so and i guess they have isaiah polamalo who's been was was pretty good when he first started i haven't checked up on his last couple of games but i know they drafted trey taylor as well they've got merig eps is on ir i think yeah he's on ir uh yeah i guess safety's worth a look as well i wouldn't prioritize it as much but i do hear what you're saying if you have an opportunity to make a big splash i do like that at least giving it a look time to draft time to draft baby let's do it that's time all right firing up the uh pff mock draft simulator i will

do my best to uh explain what we're looking at here to everybody who might be audio only. So we've got the Las Vegas Raiders who are currently picking eighth in the draft. We're going to go with a three-round mock draft here. I'm going to enter the draft real quick. I do have to make the trade with the Jets because we need to update that.

For the third-round pick. For the third-round pick where the Jets because we need to update that. For the third round pick. For the third round pick where the Jets are. The Jets. So that would be. Oh, wait, do they not have the Lions pick in here either? We need to switch that over. Might need to switch that over. Yeah, the Jets also have the Lions third round pick.

Oh, but it is the Jets pick that they traded. But the Jets traded their own. We think the Jets traded their own third rounder and are keeping the Lions third round pick oh but it is the jets pick that they traded jets traded their own we think the jets traded their own third rounder and are keeping the lions third rounder okay okay and that's that will be earlier because newsflash people the lions are much better than the new york jets don't know if you've seen all right so we'll make that trade just so we got it so so we have this trade here um Shoot, did I? Oh, I might not have had that go through. Wait, let me double check.

This is fantastic podcasting. I know everybody loves that. Everybody loves this. No, no, no. 69 here. Force the trade. All right. Okay.

All right. All right. I don't know what happened and it didn't work the first time, but we're good. Now we're back. All right. Okay. All right. All right. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what happened and it didn't work the first time, but we're good. Now we're back. All right. So the Raiders on the clock here at number eight, we have Will Johnson off the board, Travis hunters off the board,

Jalen Milrose off the board, Ted McMillan, Kenneth Grant, Will Campbell, Malachi Starks, all off the board there to start things off. So at number eight, Connor,

I'm thinking either offensive tackle because Calvin Banks Jr. is still here. If you don't think the DJ glaze is your future, right? Tackle like the idea of setting him up there. But then of course there is the quarterback conversation. They're going to take more back. The heavier one.

Cam Ward is still here. Shadur Sanders is still here. I know you talked about Shadur potentially being the option, but with Cam there at number eight, I think we go Cam here. I'm taking Cam Ward. Okay. Yeah, it's not really much of a combo for me,

but I try to always be fair, and I think it will be a combo all the way up to the draft. There's a lot of people that will really like Shadur as their top quarterback. And I have no problem with that. There's a lot of people like me that are like Cam Ward is their top quarterback. I want the guy that has better mobile playmaking. And that to me is Cam, but I could see a world where the Raiders really buy into Shadur and believe in him as a pocket passer and probably the best ball placement

in the class, and it'll be a really interesting combo. But this is our fixing, and if you're okay with it. Did any quarterbacks go before them? Milrow was, but I have to think. Milrow went. It's because I have him ranked higher, right? So he's your QB1. Still, yeah.

Okay. Yeah, I would take Cam in that spot, it's because i have him ranked higher right so he's your qb1 still yeah yeah okay um yeah i would i would take cam in that spot and obviously i guess you would agree because you have cam qb2 yeah so if you want to if so like if you want to say oh milrow going that early is unrealistic okay then just put cam there and then you can put shooter there because even though i brought up kelvin we're we're taking a quarterback at number eight. That's the way they were going. So Cam Ward or Shadur Sanders, to me, would have been the options there at number eight. We had an opportunity where Cam Ward was still on the board,

so obviously we took it because I think that Cam is fantastic as well, and I think he'd be really good for this team no matter who the offensive coordinator would be. And I think we're seeing that with how well he is playing at Miami, which is a big-time throw machine, a comeback machine. I mean, the moment is not too big for Cam Ward. That's what they need. They need mental toughness.

They do. And Cam would be so built for Vegas. Him versus Mahomes for a long time, that is my dream scenario for the Raiders right now. So now we're here at the second round, number 40. We talked about wide receiver being in need for this team, but remember, we have T. Higgins on the roster. So

T. Higgins is there. We got James Conner there. We have James Daniels as well. We're hitting a home run in free agency, we're hoping. And so that's obviously the outlook. So what are we thinking here? Oh man, I don't mind Shamar Stewart. That's an interesting one.

To get another edge rusher in there. Yeah, because if you're not buying into Tyree really turning it on, you need more help up front. Right, right. Wyatt Milam is still here. He'd be a really good add to that offensive line. I think they're going to – this is a tough one to answer right now because you've got to ride out the year and see what Glaze has. Yeah.

To be fair to him. Yeah, Jaday Barron, the corner from Texas is here if you wanted to upgrade corner, which maybe they will. With Jack Jones sort of struggling for this group. They want to see what they have into Kamarian Richardson, right? Yes, yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure that they will. I really liked his raw ability. So.

I think I might go Stewart here then. I would lean with you. Jenty's gone, right? Oh, he's got to be way gone. Yeah. Yeah. Where is Jenty? Where did Jenty?

Where did Jenty go? Nine overall to the Giants. Ah, Dave Gettleman got back in the chair. He did. He did indeed. Yes, yes. Tyrone Tracy and Ashton Jenty. Fear me.

Daniel Jones handed them the ball. You love to see it. Running back to their left here at number 40, we got RJ Harvey from UCF. Ollie Gordon is still here from ollie gordon is still here from oklahoma um caleb johnson is still here from iowa i haven't updated this yet uh with my new offensive ranking so he's going to be a lot higher but i do this shows we can get a running back later yeah you could but you could really get a running back later i think if we're going to get a running back we should shoot for um we should shoot for round three with two of those three. I agree.

Yeah, I'd probably go Shamar in this spot. Shamar, for anybody that doesn't know, former five-star top five overall recruit in the 2022 recruiting class. I mean, he just has a monster build, incredible athlete, and he's really starting to figure out how to win this year. As you can see on the screen best pff grades yet of his career 78.4 overall grade this year 79.0 uh grade as a pass rusher against true pass sets he's got an over 10 pass rush win rate so look a little bit of an athletic

development kind of a guy which might give some raiders fans a little ptsd because that's what tyree wilson was and he hasn't exactly worked out. But I think this is the best bang for your buck here with Shamar Stewart. So let's do that. Let's go with Stewart. They're at 40. Let's see. Yeah, I'm trying to think.

I mean, they got Charles Snowden. They got Caleb on chase on. That's not really keeping me from drafting Shamar Stewart, I'm going to be honest with you. No. So now we're at 69. We got two third round picks here. They are within four picks of each other here at the top of the third round.

We should check out wide receiver again, right? All right. Why not? See what depth is there. Evan Stewart from Oregon is here. I like Jaden Higgins a lot. oh jayden higgins like pat brian too but they got size and t higgins so let's keep that in mind yep pat brian and jayden higgins are size wide receivers they're they're kind of guys that can play inside and outside

their perimeter uh jump ball guys that could also be power slots so i love those players i don't know if they're a need in this spot. I wouldn't mind Trey Harris. He's been great again. I think Trey Harris looks better this year. Last year, I thought he was just an Ole Miss scheme merchant. And this year he is still who they run their passing attack through,

but he does look more diversified in how he gets the football and what he does after the catch so i definitely would not mind trey harris here i i think i like that one quite a bit what about jayden roberts is here at guard who i like but we kind of wanted to target a james daniels type free agent yeah and then they're good on the interior i think think, after that. Yeah, and then tackle. I mean, maybe a Josh Connerly or Ajani Cornelius, those two offensive tackles for Oregon. I could take a flyer on one of them if you were into it. Armand Membu from Missouri, I like.

I need to watch more of him. I think he's more of a guard. Okay. Although he could be that tackle guard kind of hybrid for you. He is having a good season. 85.3 overall PFF grade this year, 84.6 pass blocking grade, 76.2 on true passing sets. So you can see on the numbers on the right,

he doesn't really have a bad game that he has played yet. What running backs fell? Let's see. What do we got at running back? Your boy's still here. So Travion Henderson is still here. Kyle Menungai is still here. I love Menungai.

Caleb Johnson is still here from Iowa. I think it's realistic to think that he might still be available in the third round, even if we're going to bump him up a little bit. But yeah, I think we go one of these running backs and then we make the decision between offensive tackle or wide receiver at 72. I'm down with that. Yeah. The tricky thing is, do you want the explosiveness of Henderson or do you want the smash mouth style of Manung guy or Caleb Johnson is in play here? I would take Caleb Johnson if you think it's realistic that he'd still be here in the third round, which I do. Yeah, I think so.

I think so. Yeah, I think Caleb Johnson's a good pick here. I would go Caleb Johnson then. He's having an awesome year, man. I mean, James Conner would be a really, like a perfect balanced backfield. I think he is a better version of what they wanted out of Zamir White with the physical attributes and just the overall athlete. Okay okay so we got Caleb Johnson going 69 and now 72 this is our final pick here yeah I think offensive tackle or wide receiver is where I would look

it's a lot of the same names it's basically like how do you feel about uh I should be Cornelius I do too he's been good for me it's it's cornelius or trey harris let's look at their pff numbers let's see where we're at here cornelius and not as good of a year as he had last year but the numbers are still solid don't love the fact that his worst game came against nfl competition against of course i don't love that i just don't know if they're desperate at tackle right now that's my biggest i had Cornelius as my tackle 11 from summer scouting. I forgot I had Connor really much higher than him. I would probably lean with the wide receiver here,

especially how good Harris has been so good this year. I'm higher on Higgins personally, but I know we wanted you like you like Harris a lot. And when we kind of blend our rankings together, Harris would probably be the winner here. I like, I like Higgins. He's just not a great athlete. Like if you want to just play him in the slot and let him be a really

savvy wide receiver, which they can't. I don't mind that, but like if, so if you're looking at this wide receiver group, if you say that we got T Higgins, you have Jacoby Myers, who I think would be your slot receiver.

And then Trey Tucker, who could also be your slot receiver. And then Trey Tucker, who could also be your slot receiver. He's just the speedier guy. I'd go with Trey Harris. I'd take the flyer on the greater athlete and I would go with Trey Harris here. Okay, let's do it. All right.

Let's see. PFF gives me a bad grade. I swear. I'm going to, I swear. If they give us a bad grade, I'm going to find out who's responsible for the lead draft. Analyst is what?

Oh my God. D plus. You got to get it. Come on. All right. To be fair, to be fair, to be fair.

It's because we're drafting off of what I, what my updated rankings are going to be. And the PFF is sort of looking at the numbers and then judging where we drafted them versus versus where they are on the big board. So ignore the numbers. It's not fine. Or ignore the grades. It's not final yet.

Screw PFF, you know? Never liked him anyway. Oh, man. There we go. All right. We took Cam Ward in the first round. All right. No, actually, hey, a little bit of a recap here for the Las Vegas Raiders. We think that Antonio Pierce is probably staying as the head

coach. I'm really taking a big shot at offensive coordinator. If we can get Todd Munkin or Joe Brady to come over in a lateral move, that's the way I would go. But if not a Dan Mullen, a Chip Kelly, a dirt cutter, try to get one of those offensive guys that, you know, have had success before either at college football or at the NFL level would love for them to come in at offensive coordinator we're not trading Max Crosby from this team we're bringing back a lot of the depth guys that are second contract players that have expiring contracts we're going out we're getting T Higgins at wide receiver we're taking a shot at James Conner running back and we'd love to get one of those interior guys like James Daniels or a Patrick McCarry or Zach Martin we'd love to continue to try to make offensive line the strength.

In the draft then, we complemented that with Cam Ward. Coming down is the new franchise quarterback, Shamar Stewart, to make for one hell of a defensive line if Tyree Wilson can come together. And they got, man, Christian Wilkins, Shamar Stewart, Tyree Wilson, Max Crosby. That's a dream right there. You're really investing in both of the trenches as well as your franchise quarterback. And then we're getting Calebaleb johnson to pair with uh james connor and then trey harris to help round out that wide receiver room connor how do you think we did man i think we did pretty good

i think we did really well this was a fun build i think this organization isn't as far away as you know people on the outside really look at it but you could say that in the NFL, you get it right at coach, a head coach or offensive play caller. You hit on the quarterback. This roster is not barren and Telesco is an average drafter, right? Like that's what he is. He's an average drafter. And honestly, if the Raiders had average drafts since 2016, things would look a lot different, but they've been bottom five pretty consistently.

So there, there is consistently so there there is a there is a roadmap for the raiders getting this right and we just showed them it no i'm just there it is there it again you know trevor and connor consulting you know hit up our agent you know we are willing to run your franchise for you steroids that's your answer. Take anabolic steroids. Me and you just show up like pain and gain. Just like Mark Wahlberg in The Rock in pain and gain. Tuxedos with no sleeves. That's 100%. We would love to hear from you guys.

Let us know what you thought of our game plan here and where the Las Vegas Raiders are. Whether you're a Raiders fan or not, best way to tell us is in the comments. YouTube.com backslash at NFL Stock Exchange. This is a little bit of a primer, right? We're going to be doing this for a lot of different teams. We best way to tell us is in the comments, youtube.com backslash at NFL stock exchange. There's a little bit of a primer, right? We're going to be doing this for a lot of different teams. We're going to have this fixture franchise series.

Now it has come to life and we're going to do it as often as we can. Honestly, I love doing this stuff. I love doing the deep dive stuff. Hopefully you guys continue to love it as well. If you're Raiders fans, please help us out. Subscribe to the channel, share it, whatever. It really helps us out. And it makes us know that, Hey, you like the deep dive stuff,

and we'll continue to do it more. This is a podcast of the people. If you are audio only, hit us up at TampaBayTrey, at ConnorJRogers on Twitter or Instagram to get your thoughts here on this show. And, of course, let us know who you want us to fix next. Tell us in the comments who you want the next team to be for the Fix Your Franchise series. We're going to get to as many as we possibly can here before we really get into draft season around January.

And so what you guys say and how often people kind of comment of like, hey, I would love to hear this team. We will absolutely consider it and we'll see which ones people want to talk about the most. Connor, you got anything else before we get out of here? I'm excited to keep it rolling. It was great to get this series kicked off. We appreciate everyone so much that's been asking for it, that listens to it, that is just really invested in it because it's something unique that we get to do,

that we put a lot of time into, that we have a lot of fun with. Don't stop asking. If you're a Panthers fan, if you're a Titans fan, whatever it may be, Jets fans are in my mentions all the time. Oh, Lord. It's not even halloween yeah keep asking it's i mean hey i want to see how many we can get through this year i know we're gonna do more fixture franchises than we ever have before and you guys have the power of deciding which teams we get to i'm trevor sycamore that is connor rogers thank you guys so much for watching and listening to the nfl stock exchange podcast

we'll see you guys so much for watching and listening to the NFL stock exchange podcast. We'll see you guys next week. Bye.