Raiders do not plan to re-sign Smith, Rivera and McGloin
By Ryan Lipton
The Oakland Raiders have no intentions to re-sign linebacker Malcolm Smith, backup quarterback Matt McGloin and tight end Mychal Rivera according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan.
The moves should not come as any surprise to Raider Nation. Smith was undoubtedly a huge weakness for Oakland’s defense that ranked no. 23 against the run last season. The Raiders will smartly be looking to replace Smith with a much-needed upgrade in free agency or through the draft with players like Dont’a Hightower or Rueben Foster.
McGloin showed everyone, when QB Derek Carr went out with a broken fibula, that he is not much better than former fourth-round draft pick Connor Cook. Therefore, there is no need to pay McGloin millions of dollar per year to ultimately become the third string QB.
Mychal Rivera proved to be a nice piece in the passing game for Carr, but Oakland should use their cap space elsewhere by fixing the defense or signing a top tier tight end to help out Carr.
Once again none of these moves should come as a surprise. The Raiders are now considered Superbowl contenders so they will not be able to keep all their players and should focus on keeping their blue-chip players, like Mack, Carr, Cooper etc. when the time comes.
In addition, Oakland is now getting interest from the top NFL free agents and have the opportunity to acquire elite talent for a possible discount. For example, we have seen reported interest from RB Adrian Peterson, LB Dont’a Hightower, TE Martellus Bennet and DT Dontari Poe. They won’t have the ability to re-sign some of their own players if they want to go after the elite talent in free agency, which is the best move to solidify the Raiders as 2018 Superbowl contenders.
