The Las Vegas Raiders have already made some major moves in the 2024 offseason. They removed the interim tag from Antonio Pierce, making him the full-time head coach. He will be paired with former Los Angeles Chargers general manager Tom Telesco, who is taking over the same position with the Raiders.
Mark Davis made the right decision to retain Piece as players on the team had made it clear they wanted to play for him. Opting to move on from him wasn’t a mistake he was going to make again after the Raiders didn’t retain interim head coach Rich Bisaccia and hired Josh McDaniels instead.
It will be interesting to see how Pierce and Telesco go about upgrading this roster. There are some pieces to like and building blocks on both sides of the ball, but there are some areas of concern as well.
Will Telesco be able to use his last job as a resource to help bring in some players to fix things in Las Vegas? Former Raiders linebacker Kirk Morrison certainly believes so, as he floated out the idea of star edge rusher Khalil Mack coming back to the silver and black, following Telesco from the Chargers.
NFL NEWS & RUMORS: Khalil Mack, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders Updates
The Chargers have some major decisions of their own to make with new head coach Jim Harbaugh coming in. Their salary cap situation is a mess and a veteran player such as Mack could be released as a cap casualty.
A $38.5 million cap hit is tough for a team to stomach, especially when there are as many holes on the roster as there are for the Chargers. Even more enticing is that Los Angeles would save $23 million in cap space by releasing him, a number that would greatly help chip away at the approximately $45 million they are over by.
A trade involving Mack is unlikely, but if he hits free agency, the Raiders should certainly look into bringing him back. He finished the 2023 season with 17 sacks and 21 tackles for loss, showing he has plenty left in the tank.
Pairing him with Maxx Crosby coming off the edge would be a nightmare for opposing offenses to deal with. It would also provide the Raiders with some more insurance in case Tyree Wilson, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, doesn’t make a leap in his sophomore season.
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