The NFL is a passing league, so the Las Vegas Raiders have put a lot of financial resources into the wide receiver position. With the likes of Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow, Vegas has a costly group of pass catchers.
NFL analyst Warren Sharp put together the most expensive receiver rooms, and the Raiders are near the top. Jimmy Garoppolo, who is coming off offseason foot surgery, will have a lot of talent to get the ball to this 2023 season.
While the Raiders have a lot of talent on their receiver depth chart, their kicking game is good too. Vegas kicker Daniel Carlson isn’t too happy with the NFL’s new special team rules. The 28-year-old didn’t hide his unhappiness while talking with the media.
The Raiders are investing a lot in the receiving unit
If an NFL team isn’t going to draft and develop their receivers to maximize their rookie contracts, they’ll have to go a different route. Vegas has used the trade and free agency market to create one of the NFL’s most expensive groups.
The list Sharp compiled has the Raiders as the second-most costly receiving corps. Vegas is tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at $43 million. Only the Denver Broncos have a pricier unit at $44 million.
Adams is at the forefront of the franchises’ big-money investment into their receivers. The 30-year-old is entering Year 2 of a five-year, $141 million contract after coming over from the Green Bay Packers.
Meanwhile, Renfrow signed a two-year, $32 million extension. Then this offseason added a No. 3 receiver in Jakobi Meyers, who signed a three-year contract worth $33 million. Vegas also spent $2.8 million to sign Austin Hooper to a one-year contract.
The Raiders’ investments in their pass catchers will only pay off with a healthy Garoppolo. After moving on from Derek Carr, Vegas put their belief in the former San Francisco 49ers signal caller. Now, the franchise hopes Garoppolo will be healthy to take advantage of the receivers.
Daniel Carlson voices unhappiness over new special team rules
The NFL has made several changes to kickoffs in the name of player safety. Eventually, the league would modify the plays enough for a player like Carlson to raise their voice.
This season, a fair catch from a player on a kickoff anywhere inside a team’s own 25-yard line will result in a touchback. So this means the opposition will have the ball at the 25.
Although Carlson could be content with kicking the ball and getting off the field, that’s not the case. The Raiders kicker wants to be able to play at his best.
“You want to be able to perform at the highest level and not be limited by rules,” Carlson said (via the Las Vegas Review-Journal). “And so, we’re trying to figure out how to do that now and roll with the punches.”
The chess match to the kicking game is to place the ball where it pins the opposing team far back into their own territory. These new rule changes remove that detail in a football game.
Removing this aspect of the game within a game has Carlson believing that putting opponents in challenging field positions will alter the kickoff game in a significant way.
“Not only for field position, but also for kind of the momentum after a score to go pin someone down inside the 20,” Carlson said. “I think that’s a huge play for a team to set their defense up and to get guys fired up.”
*Top Photo: Getty Images
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