The schedule for the 2026 NFL season is out, so we know when the Las Vegas Raiders will be playing and can start planning out any roadtrips for away games. However, the downside is that it also means we’re about to be in the dog days of summer, where there isn’t a whole lot going on around the league. But we still have the mailbag to get to, and this week’s focus is on the roster, upcoming minicamp and OTA practices, and training camp.
A: I’d be surprised if anything happens with Jackson Powers-Johnson
between now and the beginning of training camp. If the new regime didn’t want him, the time to trade him was before or during the draft, like what happened with Tyree Wilson. Instead, I get the sense that the Raiders are trying to collect as many guards as they can and let the linemen battle it out during camp to give Fernando Mendoza the best possible offensive line.
Now, Powers-Johnson is going to have to fight for a starting spot this summer. He is the favorite to land one of the two open jobs, but Spencer Buford, Caleb Rogers, Trey Zuhn III and Jordan Meredith aren’t going to go down without a fight. So, there’s a chance JPJ could begin next season as a backup, and if that’s the case, he’ll be a popular name on the trade block.
Personally, I think he’ll win that job and be a starter in Las Vegas this year. However, that’s certainly not a sure thing.
A: Offensively, D.J. Glaze’s starting spot is on the hot seat because I think Charles Grant is a much better fit in Klint Kubiak’s wide zone rushing attack. Grant’s lateral movement skills and reach blocks were impressive coming out of college; it’s just a matter of whether he can make the switch from left to right tackle and is ready for NFL competition.
I also think Dont’e Thornton Jr. is feeling the heat and might be a trade candidate during training camp, similar to Jakorian Bennett last year. The Raiders have plenty of speed at wide receiver between Jalen Nailor, Tre Tucker and Malik Benson. So, Thornton is really going to have to step up, or he could be playing elsewhere next season.
Defensively, the coaching staff has already moved on from a few bad fits, but I am keeping my eye on Adam Butler and Isaiah Pola-Mao. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised Butler is still on the roster since the team’s goal this offseason was to get younger, and he turned 32 in April. Plus, he wasn’t very good last year, and the defense has several young defensive tackles.
It makes sense that Pola-Mao is still around because Las Vegas doesn’t have as much young talent at safety, but adding Treydan Stukes and Dalton Johnson should put IPM on notice. I kind of expect Stukes to take over as the starting free safety this year.
A: For context, Taron Johnson hasn’t been at the Raiders’ voluntary workouts just yet, and some have speculated that it might be contract-related. That could be true, since Johnson only has $1.175 million of guaranteed money left on his deal, according to Over The Cap. So, maybe he’s looking for some more cash before going on the field and risking injury. However, I wouldn’t look into this too much, right now.
Again, everything is voluntary so far, and it’s not uncommon for veterans to sit out of this portion of the offseason. Of course, the coaching staff would love to have everyone there, especially since it’s a new system/playbook for everybody, but that’s just not the case very often in the NFL.
Keep an eye on Johnson’s status during the start of OTAs on Monday, but those are still voluntary, and it will become a real issue if he sits out of mandatory minicamp from June 6-11. In a worst-case scenario, the Raiders can cut him and only take on the $1.175 million in dead cap while saving just under $7.5 million, per OTC.
For now, recognize that we’re hitting the “slow news” portion of the offseason and people are looking for something to get worked up about. Go outside, touch some grass and make the nickelback’s absence next month’s problem!
Quick break to tell you about a new shirt from my friends at Homage. If you’re a fan of the band Queen, this is the shirt for you! This is a Raiders-Queen mashup that features the Silver and Black’s 2026 schedule on the back. The pictures below are of the design, and the back will be updated with each game. So, the shirts are available to purchase now, but are estimated to ship on May 20.
Follow this link to get yours!
Q: On May 11, it looked like there were a lot of players, including Fernando Mendoza, practicing. Was this an official practice? I thought the next official practice was coming up on the 18th. Color me confused.
A: I understand where you’re coming from because the offseason practice schedule is confusing until you dive deeper into the rules. Here’s a full breakdown from the NFLPA’s website (link) if you want to explore the full details yourself.
Basically, when the offseason program started on April 7, the players could start practicing on the field with certain restrictions, and those restrictions lessen as the weeks go by. That’s likely what you saw on May 11. Then, when the team gets to the minicamps and OTAs, they can have more organized practices with a lot fewer limitations. Still, the pads don’t come on until training camp, though.
A: I hear ya. It’s frustrating that all professional sports leagues seem to be pivoting towards a business model where you have to have subscriptions to several streaming services to watch every game, and the NFL is leading the charge.
I think the revenue for the Sunday non-primetime games is too much for the NFL to completely switch to putting all of their games behind a paywall, but standalone games do appear to be shifting toward the streaming services. It’s almost like the league is moving to the old WWE model, where Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown were on cable, but the big events were pay-per-view.
Luckily, the Raiders don’t have any primetime games this year, barring a flex game toward the end of the year, so we don’t have to worry about it this fall. LOL!
That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to SBPQuestions1@gmail.com or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.
