Free agency is slowing down, which means we’re officially entering 2026 NFL draft season, and the Las Vegas Raiders’ roster is starting to take shape. That gives us plenty to go over for this week’s mailbag, so let’s get to it!
Q: The Raiders still have a lot of needs, albeit a strong FA and return of the Maxx Crosby. In my opinion, the biggest need is a free safety. Curious if you feel it’s NT, WR1, RT, FS, etc? You can only choose one.
A: It’s a close call between free safety and nose tackle for
me, and right tackle and guard aren’t too far behind. But if I can only pick one, I’d agree with you that it’s free safety.
At right tackle and guard, the Raiders at least have a couple of young and promising linemen in last year’s third-round picks, Charles Grant and Caleb Rogers. Plus, while Jordan Meredith hasn’t officially re-signed yet, he’s at least someone with starting experience who has been solid in the past to get by for next year.
Nose tackle doesn’t have many promising options and still should be a high priority in the draft, but at least JJ Pegues and Brodic Martin are there to have a couple of young guys to potentially fill the void. Meanwhile, the current roster has no legitimate free safeties. To me, Isaiah Pola-Mao proved that he shouldn’t be trusted in that role, and the defense needs a ballhawk who can create turnovers on the backend.
Las Vegas only had eight interceptions last year, and Kyu Blu Kelly led the team with three. Kelly, who was a cornerback anyway, isn’t on the roster anymore, and I don’t think anyone is pounding the table for him to return.
So, getting a free safety, especially one with good ball skills to get interceptions, should be one of the Raiders’ biggest priorities in the draft. Luckily, this year’s class is pretty strong at the position.
Q: Are there any FS with the 36th pick?
A: Building on the previous question, yes!
This safety class is strong, and Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman would be one of my top options at 36. However, that may not be realistic since it seems like he’s trending toward being a first-round pick. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren from Toledo is another guy to keep tabs on, but he also might be a first-rounder. Additionally, McNeil-Warren is similar to Jeremy Chinn, as a strong safety who can play on the backend in two-high coverages rather than being a true free safety.
After those two, A.J. Haulcy from LSU would be next in line at the top of the second round. There’s a bit of a drop off after Haulcy, but Penn State’s Zakee Wheatley, Arizona’s Genesis Smith and TCU’s Bud Clark are all good options in the third or fourth rounds, and they could be day one starters in Las Vegas.
A: I think you touched on it with DJ Reader’s downsides. It’s clear John Spytek wants to have a young roster next season, and that’s how he should be operating. This is a one- to two-year rebuild where the goal for next season should be to see who can be part of the long-term plan, rather than adding older rental starters. Quarterback and offensive line would be the only exceptions because the Raiders don’t want to throw Fernando Mendoza to the wolves too early and with little protection.
Also, Reader isn’t a great scheme fit. He’s been more of a shade nose in even fronts than someone who lines up head up on the center and two-gaps in odd fronts. The former calls for defensive tackles who can get penetration and one-gap, rather than eat up space and create road blocks in the A-gaps.
I hear what you’re saying about not counting on the draft to fall the Raiders’ way, but there are a lot of good nose tackles in this year’s draft class. I don’t think they’ll have a problem getting one at the top of the second or third rounds.
A: I think it has more to do with who is available year to year than the scheme or how many teams run a 3-4 defense. This offseason, the free agent options at nose tackle were pretty weak, but the draft class is strong. That’s just how it works sometimes.
To your point though, the 3-3-5 defense is becoming more prevalent in the college game to deal with how often offenses are running RPOs and to account for the wider hash marks. So, there has been an increase in two-gapping nose tackle prospects since that scheme asks defensive linemen to do that frequently to account for one less defender in the box. Then, not all of those prospects are going to pan out, and good players usually re-sign with the team that drafted them. So the pool of quality free agents shrinks, especially at a niche position.
As far as when Mendoza starts, I’d put my money on his first start coming in Week 5. That way, he isn’t thrown into the fire but also gets plenty of experience to build on for 2027 and beyond.
Q: At what point will we see a change in the free agency landscape where bargain deals between players and teams will become more prevalent? Might there be a particular time, like 4-5 weeks or maybe at draft time, when players and agents get a bit antsy and things change?
A: We’re already in that period. For example, Las Vegas signed guys like Segun Olubi, Dareke Young and Spencer Burford recently, all of whom are one-year, low-cost contract guys. Granted, the terms of Burford’s deal haven’t been made public at the time of writing, but I can’t imagine he’s getting much more than a cheap, one- to two-year deal.
Now, if you’re talking about free agents who haven’t signed yet because they thought they’d have a stronger market than they do, that will likely happen after the draft. Since the two biggest roster-building events of the offseason—free agency and the draft—are over at that point, that’s when teams reassess their roster/needs and start to bring in veterans to fill the gaps.
Q: What do you think of the Raiders drafting Darrell Jackson, DT from Florida State? I like his potential.
A: Jackson is one of “my guys”, as I’m a big fan of his game as well. He doesn’t offer much as a pass-rusher, but is a good run defender and has great traits at 6-foot-5.5, 315 pounds and 34¾-inch arms. Also, he has experience playing up and down the defensive line, including at nose tackle. Jackson would be a good third- or fourth-round target, in my opinion, and he’s going to be my next breakdown on Tape Don’t Lie. So, keep your eyes peeled!
Q: I’ve been doing mock drafts for the first time. I’ve been taking Gennings Dunker in the second, and PFF doesn’t like that. Wonder why that is. He seems like an almost perfect RT for wide zone?
A: The concern with Dunker is that he isn’t a good pass-blocker on the edge and might get kicked inside to guard because of that. Also, keep in mind that the grades PFF’s mock draft simulator spits out are based on where they have players ranked on their big board, and Dunker is listed at No. 57. So, the 36th pick would be a reach for him, especially since he’s 56th on NFL Mock Draft Database’s consensus big board.
That said, I agree with you that the former Hawkeye would be a good fit in Klint Kubiak’s offense. Iowa ran a lot of wide zone last year, and Kubiak leaning heavily on play action can help tackles (and the offense line as a whole) in pass protection.
For a quick break, my friends at Homage recently released some new Raiders gear, featuring a hoodie and a raglan tee. Follow this link to get yours!
Q: What would need to happen in round 1 for you to want the Raiders to trade up from #36? Similarly, what would need to occur for you to think it would be to our advantage to trade back from #36?
A: To be honest, I’d rather see the Raiders stick and pick at 36 than use it for a trade, up or down. However, I’ll play ball and answer the question.
If Rueben Bain Jr. or Caleb Downs slides significantly—and both could with Bain’s short arms and Downs’ injury concerns—then I’d be in for a trade up. I also would get it if Thieneman is still available in the mid 20s and Spytek doesn’t want to risk him not making it to 36.
For a trade back, if Kayden McDonald, Lee Hunter and Christen Miller are all available, I’d be on board with getting more picks and taking whichever one is left over later in the second round, assuming the Raiders receive their trade partner’s second-rounder in the deal. McDonald, Hunter and Miller are my top three nose tackles, and I’d be good with getting either of them.
Q: If DJ Glaze kicks inside to guard, is Charles Grant ready to start at RT, or will the draft give the Raiders a starter? Seems like Spytek is loading IOL (JPJ, Linderbaum, Rogers, Meredith, Burford, possibly Glaze) which is great, but what about T’s?
A: I get the sense that they’re going to have Glaze and Grant compete for the starting right tackle spot in training camp, rather than move Glaze inside. That’s a risky strategy and one I was hoping Vegas would avoid. But, as I mentioned last week, I wouldn’t be surprised if Spytek was planning on making a run at Braden Smith until he found out on day two of free agency that he has about $30 million less of cap space to work with…
I know I’ve been talking a lot about free safety and nose tackle being the target in the second round, but it wouldn’t surprise me if right tackle is in the mix, too. Keep tabs on Arizona State’s Max Iheanachor and Clemson’s Blake Miller.
Q: I use Over the Cap to try to see how much cap space the Raiders have left. Are they accurate (relatively), and do they subtract the money needed to pay our draft picks? If they do, how much is subtracted?
A: OTC is my go-to for salary cap information. It isn’t 100 percent accurate (no site is when it comes to the nitty-gritty of the cap), but it does give you a good idea of where each team is at.
If you follow this link, the ‘cap space’ column shows how much funds each team has available without the draft class, and the ‘effective cap space’ column factors in the draft class. OTC also has a page dedicated to the rookie pool estimates for each team to give you an idea of how much the draft class will cost the Raiders.
Spotrac is a good site for salary cap information, too. I just like Over The Cap more since it focuses on the NFL.
Q: Do you think the Raiders have actually told Maxx Crosby he won’t be traded this year? Mike Tannenbaum suggested the Raiders should trade him for a 1st round pick this year and a 2nd round next year that could become a 1 if Crosby plays in 70% of that team’s snaps. Then he said the team trading for Crosby could not do a physical. Do you think anyone would agree to that?
A: I mentioned last week that I’m not going to say anything is 100 percent certain when it comes to the Crosby situation, so I won’t rule out another trade. However, I think it’s more likely that he at least begins the 2026 season on the roster.
On Tannenbaum’s trade proposal, he said a second-rounder for this year, so it would really be two twos with the chance of being a one and a two. If I’m Spytek, I’d want a guarantee of getting at least one first-round pick to trade Crosby rather than leaving it up to chance.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think another team can force a trade partner to accept a trade before the player undergoes a physical. As we learned last week, no trade is official until the player passes a physical, and that’s the case for every transaction. Even free agent signings have to pass a physical, i.e. the infamous Rodger Saffold situation in 2014.
If that is possible, I don’t think any team would be willing to give up that much draft capital and take the risk of acquiring a player who could have lingering injury issues, especially since another club has already failed Crosby on a physical. Even if this hypothetical trade partner thinks the Ravens just used that as an excuse to back out of the trade, they’re going to want to make sure Maxx isn’t damaged goods.
A: Ted Hendricks retired 10 years before I was born, so I can’t say for certain that Crosby will be used the same way Hendricks was. LOL!
I do think Crosby can be moved up and down the line, but that will primarily be in passing situations, and the 3-4 scheme becomes irrelevant at that point. In the modern game, teams use their nickel packages on third downs, replacing the nose tackle with an extra defensive back. So, it becomes a four-man front and, typically, six defenders in the box.
Crosby’s quickness can be an asset as a pass-rusher against interior offensive linemen, and moving him around will force opposing offensive lines to adjust their protection scheme on the fly since they won’t know where he’s going to be until they break the huddle. However, the Raiders don’t want Maxx taking on double teams from offensive linemen in running situations, so it would be more of a subpackage than a staple of the playbook.
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.
