Raiders Hire John Pagano As Assistant Head Coach-Defense
The Raiders announced that they have hired former Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano as their assistant head coach-defense. Pagano will be reuniting with head coach Jack Del Rio, as the duo worked together in New Orleans.
Ken Norton Jr. will remain the Raiders’ defensive coordinator, but Pagano will certainly help a unit that struggled at times during the 2016 season. The Raiders ranked 26th in yards allowed, and they finished with the fewest sacks in the NFL.
Raiders, Jack Del Rio To Talk Extension
On the heels of leading the Raiders back to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years, Jack Del Rio will begin extension talks with the team this week, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports (on Twitter).
Del Rio is signed through the 2018 season already, but Mark Davis is obviously pleased with the job the coach has done in his two years at the helm. Oakland improved by three wins from 2014 to ’15 and the 12-win 2016 campaign represented a five-victory improvement for a franchise that hadn’t fielded a winning team since 2002. The 53-year-old Del Rio won 12 games for the second time in his career, and although he has yet to win a division title in 10 years as a HC, the Raiders came close to accomplishing that this season after failing to sniff such a perch in years.
This could be viewed as a formality, but the Raiders have been anything but stable in their recent past, moving on from coaches quickly as the likes of Tom Cable and Hue Jackson discovered. But the organization resides on much firmer ground under Del Rio, whom Reggie McKenzie hired from the Broncos. The McKenzie-led Raiders are moving on a steadier course than they did during Al Davis’ final years, so this latest partnership looks like it will be lasting long-term.
Del Rio now also could be faced with shepherding a Raiders move to Las Vegas, but the Raiders managed to thrive with that looming over their 2016 season, giving Del Rio a chance at coach of the year acclaim.
Latest On Raiders’ Extension Plans
The Raiders have been able to stockpile veteran UFAs in recent years because of a lack of homegrown extensions on their payroll. But they will soon need to cut back on offseason spending because of two stars becoming extension-eligible. And Reggie McKenzie doesn’t appear to be inclined to wait on what figure to be the two most expensive extensions in Raiders history.
Derek Carr will enter a contract year without a fifth-year option safety net, while Khalil Mack can be controlled on his rookie deal through 2018 because of that clause in the former first-rounder’s pact. McKenzie wants both players to be locked up to long-term contracts by the end of next season.
“The good thing is we do have time, but I’m not the type to wait until the last minute,” McKenzie said, via Jerry McDonald of the San Jose Mercury News. “Those two guys are not only great players, but they’re great men and they are true Raiders and I want to make sure we do the best that we can to make sure they stay Raiders.
“A quarterback is going to command a high dollar. Khalil is going to command a high dollar. We’ll work around it, but we don’t feel at this point threatened by it.”
The Raiders stand to possess more than $46MM in cap space this year. They shouldn’t be as active in free agency compared to last year as a result of these looming deals, McKenzie acknowledged, and the Carr accord figures to be one of the more scrutinized negotiations this summer.
Carr is set to make just more than $977K in base salary this season, so he could add an extra year of franchise-quarterback money by signing before his walk year, a la Russell Wilson. The 2014 second-rounder’s worth became painfully obvious after he went down in Week 16, with the Raiders ending their season with two one-sided defeats. Carr figures to be in position to command a deal well north of $20MM per year, seeing as he’ll be 26 in March and the Raiders having not employed a young franchise-caliber quarterback since probably Ken Stabler. Andrew Luck‘s five-year, $122MM agreement could be in sight.
Mack will count $5.942MM toward Oakland’s cap in 2017; that’s the 10th-highest cap figure on a payroll that features UFA signings representing its nine highest salaries. The Raiders will have an incredibly easy decision when choosing to exercise Mack’s fifth-year option worth approximately $13.7MM. A defensive player of the year candidate, Mack could target Von Miller‘s $19MM-AAV threshold and become the league’s first $20MM-per-year defender. The cap’s continued rise, and Mack being two years younger than Miller, point to him potentially raising the standard.
McKenzie’s language dictates the superstar pass-rusher probably won’t have to wait until after his fifth season to receive his landmark extension like Miller did.
Raiders File Relocation Papers
As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported over the weekend, the Raiders have filed relocation papers to move from Oakland to Las Vegas. The Mark Davis-led Raiders will now need to receive approval from 24 NFL owners to relocate, and that vote will likely take place in March.
The city of Oakland made “no progress” in retaining the team, Rapoport noted, and few believe that their proposal for a new stadium is “credible.” The Raiders have been looking to move out of Oakland Alameda Coliseum, their home from 1966-1981 and again since 1995, but they’ll spend the next two seasons there even if the league approves their move, according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com.
As the Raiders continue in Oakland for a couple more years, construction will preumsably get underway on a Las Vegas stadium sometime soon. The Raiders have a $1.9 billion proposed facility in the works, but $650MM of that is supposed to come from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. There have been bumps in the road in negotiations between him and the Raiders, so it’s unclear whether Adelson will be part of the plan. The rest of the money will come from the the Raiders ($500MM) and a record in public money ($750MM) via hotel room tax revenue. The Raiders have also suggested a plan that would allow the team to finance a new stadium via Goldman Sachs advisors.
For what it’s worth, Rapoport noted previously that the league’s owners aren’t as opposed to the idea of the Raiders going from Oakland to Vegas as originally anticipated. The plan is “making progress and gathering momentum,” which should be good news to Davis.
The Chargers announced their move from San Diego to Los Angeles last week, which came a year after the Rams relocated from St. Louis to LA. The Raiders departing their longstanding home would further shake up the league.
Raiders To Bring Back OL Coach Mike Tice
The contract for Raiders offensive line coach Mike Tice expired after their season ended, but the team made retaining him a high priority. It’s now official that Tice will return to the Raiders next season, per Adam Caplan of ESPN (Twitter link).
With Tice coming back, the only offensive coach the Raiders will lose from 2016 is previous coordinator Bill Musgrave, whose contract they didn’t renew. Musgrave is now the quarterbacks coach with AFC West rival Denver, while Oakland tabbed its own former QBs coach, Todd Downing, to replace him.
The Raiders had one of the NFL’s top offenses this season, which was thanks in large part to their Tice-coached line. Pro Football Focus ranked the Raiders’ front five as the fourth-best unit in the league. Stalwarts Donald Penn, Kelechi Osemele and Rodney Hudson were the group’s premier players.
Tice, who’s best known for his run as the Vikings’ head coach from 2002-05, has worked as an offensive assistant with various teams since his tenure in Minnesota ended. Next season will be his third with the Raiders.
NFLPA Announces Cap Carryover Amounts
The NFL Players Association has announced all 32 teams’ salary cap carryover amounts for the 2017 season (Twitter link). Next season’s cap figure isn’t yet known, but it’s likely to be in the $165MM range. When that becomes official, it can be added to each team’s carryover amount to determine that club’s official spending room for 2017.
Here are this year’s carryover totals:
- Cleveland Browns: $50,123,269
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $39,314,310
- San Francisco 49ers: $38,708,916
- Tennessee Titans: $24,046,522
- Washington Redskins: $15,055,131
- Carolina Panthers: $13,208,020
- Miami Dolphins: $8,363,708
- Chicago Bears: $8,103,197
- Oakland Raiders: $8,000,000
- Green Bay Packers: $7,984,687
- Philadelphia Eagles: $7,933,869
- Denver Broncos: $7,243,248
- Indianapolis Colts: $6,614,106
- Cincinnati Bengals: $6,578,866
- New Orleans Saints: $5,754,000
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $5,330,779
- New England Patriots: $5,292,335
- Kansas City Chiefs: $5,002,168
- Houston Texans: $4,935,924
- Detroit Lions: $4,725,644
- Arizona Cardinals: $4,405,068
- Pittsburgh Steelers: $3,269,367
- Buffalo Bills: $2,837,222
- Baltimore Ravens: $2,553,126
- Dallas Cowboys: $2,401,553
- Seattle Seahawks: $2,065,865
- New York Giants: $1,800,000
- Atlanta Falcons: $926,541
- Minnesota Vikings: $400,184
- New York Jets: $371,487
- Los Angeles Rams: $304,311
- Los Angeles Chargers: $113,693
2017 Proven Performance Escalators
According to the NFL’s contractual bargaining agreement, players drafted in rounds three though seven are entitled to raises during the fourth year of their respective rookie contracts. The pay bumps are tied to playing time — a player must have played in 35% of his team’s offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons, or averaged 35% playing time cumulatively during that period.
If one of these thresholds is met, the player’s salary is elevated to the level of that year’s lowest restricted free agent tender — that figure should be around $1.8MM in 2017. Players selected in the first or second round, undrafted free agents, and kickers/punters are ineligible for the proven performance escalator.
Here are the players who will see their salary rise in 2017 courtesy of the proven performance escalator:
49ers: Aaron Lynch, LB; Marcus Martin, OL
Bears: Charles Leno, T; Will Sutton, DT
Bengals: Russell Bodine, C
Bills: Preston Brown, LB; Seantrel Henderson, T
Broncos: Michael Schofield, OL
Browns: Christian Kirksey, LB
Buccaneers: Kevin Pamphile, G
Cardinals: John Brown, WR
Chiefs: Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, G; Zach Fulton, G; Phillip Gaines, CB
Colts: Donte Moncrief, WR
Cowboys: Anthony Hitchens, LB
Falcons: Devonta Freeman, RB
Giants: Devon Kennard, LB
Jaguars: Aaron Colvin, CB; Brandon Linder, G; Telvin Smith, LB
Lions: Nevin Lawson, CB; Travis Swanson, C
Packers: Corey Linsley, C; Richard Rodgers, TE
Panthers: Tre Boston, S; Trai Turner, G
Raiders: T.J. Carrie, CB; Justin Ellis, DT; Gabe Jackson, G
Rams: Maurice Alexander, S; E.J. Gaines, CB
Redskins: Bashaud Breeland, CB; Spencer Long, G; Morgan Moses, T
Texans: C.J. Fiedorowicz, TE; Andre Hal, S
Titans: DaQuan Jones, DL; Avery Williamson, LB
Vikings: Shamar Stephen, DT
Raiders Lose Marcus Robertson To Broncos
- The Broncos are set to hire Marcus Robertson as their defensive backs coach, according to Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter link). He’ll take over for Joe Woods, whom new Broncos head coach Vance Joseph promoted to defensive coordinator. Robertson, who played in the NFL from 1991-2002, has coached secondaries in Tennessee, Detroit and Oakland since 2007. He was the Raiders’ DBs coach over the past two seasons.
Raiders Promote Trey Scott
- The Raiders have promoted midwest scout Trey Scott to the position of Assistant Director of Player Personnel, reports Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Scott has spent the past four seasons with the organization, and he previously spent time working with the Redskins.
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Jets Had Interest In Raiders OC Todd Downing
Broncos running backs coach Eric Studesville opted to stay in Denver rather than pursue the Jets‘ offensive coordinator vacancy, and New York’s hope to conduct a wide-ranging search for a new play-caller may have played a factor in Studesville declining to remain in contention, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, who adds that Studesville didn’t want to “lose a bird in the hand.” The Jets have “at least” three other candidates on their radar at the moment, per Cimini, and one name of interest could be Chiefs co-offensive coordinator Matt Nagy (though it’s not clear if the ESPN scribe is reporting or speculating). Kansas City would be able to block any interview request from New York, which could present a problem as Gang Green continues its hunt. The Jets also expressed interest in new Raiders OC Todd Downing before he was promoted from QBs coach, per Cimini.