Raiders free agency: It doesn’t hurt to eye wide receivers

Especially with Hunter Renfrow’s status up in the air; depth is needed at position group

Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers are a quality one-two punch at wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders. Both are solid route runners with strong hands and are deceptively quick able break free of coverage deep, despite being seen as possession types.

Adams paced the Raiders offense with 103 catches for 1,144 yards and eight touchdowns while Meyers followed with 71 grabs for 807 yards and an equal amount of receiving scores. The duo are expected to be the No. 1 and 2 receivers for Las Vegas’ offense under new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

But what about the depth behind Adams and Meyers?

Slot dynamo Hunter Renfrow remains on the roster — but for how long? — and speedster Tre Tucker showed promise as a vertical threat in his rookie year this past season. Beyond those two, there’s D.J. Turner and Kristian Wilkinson who are under contract in Las Vegas.

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Renfrow’s status remains up in the air as the 28-year-old’s cap number is a pricey $13.718 million in 2024. That’s an exorbitant figure for a player that’s played in just 27 games the past two seasons and produced 585 yards and two touchdowns on 61 receptions after a stellar 103-catch, 1,038-yard, and nine-touchdown 2021 campaign (which saw him earn a rich contract extension). Las Vegas can choose to cut the wideout with a post-June 1 designation that’ll result in $5.508 million in dead cap but save the team $11.882 million in cap space this season. Tucker, meanwhile, is on cheap rookie contract as a third-round pick from the 2023 NFL Draft. And Turner and Wilkinson are on team-friendly deals, too.

Thus, it doesn’t hurt the Raiders to eye the wide receivers on the free agent market and potentially add one (or two) to the mix. The team needs more depth at the position group, especially if a decision to part with Renfrow is on the horizon. Head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco talked openly about the team’s tradition of attacking the opposition vertically with a deep passing game and while they have a true deep threat on the roster in Tucker, adding other options will make it less obvious what Las Vegas intends to do when the speedy Cincinnati product is on the field.

And one of the true deep threats available on the open market is a receiver Getsy is familiar with.

Darnell Mooney: The 5-foot-11, 173-pound 2020 fifth-round pick hasn’t recaptured his 2021 campaign that saw him snag 81 passes for 1,055 yards and four touchdowns. But at just 26 years old, Mooney can still break free of coverage on intermediate and deep routes. He’s dealt with nagging injuries the last two season with the Chicago Bears (27 games and 26 starts) and hauled in 71 catches for 907 yards and three scores in that timespan with Getsy as the Bears play caller. Spotrac lists Mooney’s projected value at $10.4 million average annual salary, but injuries and production are likely to put this wideout in a buy-low, flier risk category. Mooney would give the Raiders another option besides Tucker to run vertical routes and stretch opposing defenses.

Jalen Guyton: Following the pattern of team personnel familiarity, Guyton is a speedster Telesco knows all too well. A pure-deep threat specialist, the 6-foot-1, 212-pound undrafted free agent didn’t do much in 2022 and 2023 (just 12 catches for 153 yards and one touchdown) with the Los Angeles Chargers, but he did stretch defenses in 2020 and 2021 (59 catches for 959 yards and six scores). With a valuation of just $1.232 million from Over The Cap, adding Guyton is going to be fairly cheap and worth the flier to see if he’s still got the wheels to make opposing defenses pay.

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Devin Duvernay: The 2020 third-round pick had meager production in 2023 (four catches for 18 yards) but is still every bit as fast coming out of Texas. The 5-foot-11 and 202-pound 26-year-old is another flier option to see if his speed can compliment the Raiders attack. His high point of his carrier with the Baltimore Ravens was in 2022 (37 grabs for 407 yards and three scores) and Duvernay can double as a speedy option as a return man, too. With a valuation of $1.116, he can be a low-cost one-year signing like Guyton.

Jalen Reagor: Sensing a theme with this list yet? Reagor is a 2020 first-round pick who hasn’t produced like his draft pedigree merits. He came into the league as a deep threat out of TCU but it hasn’t materialized consistently. He hits the open market at 25 years old and hauled in seven passes for 138 yards with zero scores for the New England Patriots in 2023. That gaudy 19.7 yards per catch should intrigue Las Vegas, though and his valuation of just $1.01 million should be equally attractive.

D.J. Chark: A bigger vertical threat at 6-foot-3 but a sleek 200 pounds, Chark represents a more expensive option with a market value of 10.9 million average annual salary from Spotrac. The 27-year-old snagged 35 passes for 525 yards and five touchdowns for the Carolina Panthers in 2023. And his speed and route running do make him a viable vertical threat. The 2018 second-round pick’s height also makes Chark a potential red zone jump ball specialist, too.

Wild Card: Brandon Aiyuk. This would have to be a trade as he’s under contract with the San Francisco 49ers. The 25-year-old receiver broke out in 2023 with 75 grabs for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns. The 2020 first-round pick is going to earn some serious bank and the Niners may not be the team to give him that coin.