Why the Raiders' Training Camp Will Have Monumental Consequences

Critical Decisions Ahead

Training camp will finally give Las Vegas a chance to literally and figuratively go full speed, as they look to maximize their time on the practice field. The Raiders will soon suit up and try to get as much live-speed action as possible to prepare for what lies ahead.

However, the excitement surrounding the Raiders taking the field for the upcoming season only raises new questions about the organization's immediate future, as the team's on-field performance will inevitably impact some extremely vital decisions they will soon have to make.

Raiders' Flexibility

The Raiders' front office aimed to add roster flexibility. Considering how bad their roster has been over the past three seasons, it is hard to deny that Las Vegas has unquestionably improved. Yet this is just the start of a multi-year rebuilding process. One productive offseason is underway.

Still, the Raiders need to add more talent in future offseasons. The moves Las Vegas made this offseason have begun to shift their roster needs, as many were addressed with the signings the Raiders made at the start of free agency and through the NFL Draft.

The flexibility the Raiders' front office sought to add to their roster has also impacted future roster decisions. The National Football League will always be a business first. The team and organization are a business, but the players are their own personal businesses, too.

Every so often, those businesses reconvene to reach a new agreement for the future. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes it does not, and both sides move on. Many of Las Vegas' offseason moves addressed pressing needs for years to come.

Many of the players the Raiders added in free agency were signed to three-year deals. That is enough to lay a solid foundation at linebacker and center, two of the most critical positions on the field. However, that is only part of how the Raiders secured their future.

Las Vegas also added 10 additional draft picks, many of whom have a chance to play critical roles in the early stages of their rebuild. In addition to adding Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick, the Raiders added four defensive backs, as well as an offensive and defensive lineman.

Each of those draft picks and free-agent additions, as well as the additional talent the Raiders are sure to add next offseason, makes it hard not to peek ahead to the critical roster and contractual decisions on the horizon.

The decisions alone are enough to make one wonder about the possibilities, but the fact that the Raiders' upcoming training camp and season will directly correlate to several big decisions on the horizon cannot go unnoticed. To make things even better, the players will largely make the decision.

Next offseason, the Raiders will have to make critical contractual decisions on some of their best players. This includes Maxx Crosby, Kolton Miller, Jeremy Chinn, and Isaiah Pola-Mao. This is among the other decisions Las Vegas' front office will have to make.

Not many of those other decisions will be more critical than the aforementioned ones. Next offseason, the Raiders could trade Miller and Crosby and save upwards of $50 million combined. That is a substantial amount of money the Raiders could put towards the future.

They could do this with minimal dead money being left over and likely getting a player or draft picks in return. It could be the best way to maximize draft picks from nearly a decade ago, save money, and get younger players who could be around a while.

Raiders general manager John Spytek undoubtedly knows there is a way out of both contracts that can set the team up for the future. Miller and Crosby have two of the biggest contracts on the books. Spytek has shown he is well-versed in managing the team's finances.

Part of good money management is knowing how much you can spend, where you can save, and how to get the best bang for your buck. Considering not only the Raiders' pressing roster needs, but their lack of results in recent years, most of the Raiders' spending made sense this offseason.

As star players age, what a team can expect in return from them usually decreases more than it increases, but this is the beauty of where Spytek and the Raiders sit at the moment. The upcoming decisions on Miller and Crosby are largely in the players' hands, not the front office.

Assuming an unbeatable trade does not come across the Raiders' table, Miller and Crosby are set to start the season in Silver and Black. Las Vegas and any potential suitors will have time to see what they are getting from either player in the near future.

Miller and Crosby both have their own individual reasons, as neither has any guaranteed money owed to them past the 2026 season. Whether the Raiders are willing to change that, after Spytek has already reworked both their contracts, remains to be seen.

Soon, the business side of things could weigh equally on roster decisions as the players' on-field play. Miller and Crosby have been two of the most dependable players in the entire league at their respective positions in the past decade, and the Raiders could soon legitimately move on from both.

Las Vegas is headed in a new direction. As they look to rebuild, difficult decisions are bound to arise. Spytek has already shown he is not afraid to make them, and when he does, he does so with the best interest of the Raiders at the forefront, which is all that will matter in their climb back to relevance.