Post Draft Depth: Raiders add veterans at offensive line, wide receiver

Cornerback remains an area of opportunity

With their depth thin and lacking at offensive line, the Las Vegas Raiders plucked two prospects from the 2024 NFL Draft to address the area of need.

But the Silver & Black wasn’t done there.

General manager Tom Telesco added veteran talent post draft in Andrus Peat, providing the Raiders not only depth, but much-needed competition up front. The 13th overall pick in the 2015 draft comes to Las Vegas after a lengthy nine-year stint with the New Orleans Saints. Starting 102 games and appearing in 111, Peat was a long time starter at left guard before being placed on an island at left tackle this past season, starting 12 of the 16 games he played. The 6-foot-7 and 316-pound 30-year-old gives the Raiders another competitor for an interior starting spot or tackle position.

The offensive line is the lifeblood of an NFL offense and getting offensive line coach James Cregg more ingredients to cook something up is always a good thing. And Peat can make a strong push to challenge incumbent Dylan Parham newcomers Cody Whitehair (free agent signing) and Jackson Powers-Johnson (second-round pick) at guard and perhaps Thayer Munford Jr. and DJ Glaze (third-round pick) at right tackle, or backing up Kolton Miller at the blindside.

Another spot that needed some love in Las Vegas is the wide receiver spot. While the team has its top two starters in productive veterans Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers, along with a true deep threat in second-year wideout Tre Tucker, the depth behind the crew was murky. Even though the team didn’t draft a wide receiver, Telesco added two more veteran options at the position group in Michael Gallup and Tyler Guyton (a familiar receiver to the Raiders GM).

The 28-year-old Gallup and 26-year-old Guyton are competition and depth options who have experience and production under their belt that can push for work while keeping Tucker and other wide receivers on point — lest they lose snaps. Gallup brings 67 career starts in the 89 games he’s played (3,744 yards and 21 touchdowns in six-year stint with the Dallas Cowboys) while Guyton has 14 starts in 46 career games (1,112 yards and seven touchdowns in his five-year stint with the Los Angeles Chargers).

Of that duo, however, Guyton is likeliest the most one-dimensional.

Like Tucker, Guyton is fleet of foot and has been deployed as a pure-speed option who sprints to keep opposing defenses on its toes. At this stage, that doesn’t likely change — but you never know — as the 6-foot-1 and 212-pound undrafted North Texas product ran a 4.39 second 40-yard dash as the school’s pro day. As such, Guyton is in line to potentially compete directly with Tucker — who is the deep threat in the wide receiver room. Guyton only had 10 grabs for 89 yards and one touchdown on 255 total snaps in 2023.

Gallup, on the other hand, is a perimeter receiver who Dallas moved inside in the slot and outside in an attempt to maximize opportunities and production. The 2018 third-round pick (81st overall) hasn’t been the same dynamic and productive receiver since tearing an ACL back in 2022 and his best year came in 2019 (his second year in league) with 1,107 yards with six touchdowns on 66 grabs. Gallup racked up 418 yards and two scores on 34 catches in 612 snaps (lowest of his career) in 2023.

Thus, during offseason team activities (OTAs) and upcoming minicamps and training camp, the availability of the veteran trio helps rev up competition and provide depth to a 90-man roster the Raiders are shaping in the image of what head coach Antonio Pierce wants. Plus, the trio are likely to be very motivated to showcase they are indeed still quality NFL players and not camp fodder.

There remains an area of opportunity for Las Vegas, however: The cornerback room.

Telesco did draft two corners in the draft in Decamerion Richardson (fourth round) and M.J. Devonshire (seventh) along with a slew of undrafted free agents. And the team has projected starters in Jack Jones (perimeter) and Nate Hobbs (nickel/slot) along with veteran Brandon Facyson. But another experienced and productive veteran option can not only provide competition and depth, but a sounding board for the young cornerback room.

Xavien Howard is a popular “big” name on the free agent market as the 30-year-old has vast experience and production while playing and starting in 13 games for the Miami Dolphins in 2023. Other unrestricted free agents include: Ahkello Witherspoon (29 years old, 93.5 percent of the snaps with Los Angeles Rams in 2023); Steven Nelson (31, 89.8 percent of snaps with Houston Texans); Stephen Gilmore (33, 87.2 percent with Dallas Cowboys); and Adoree’ Jackson (28, 70.2 percent with New York Giants).

Each of those veterans can be the productive lead-by-example types. But with the glut of younger talent, perhaps the Raiders see what they have throughout early offseason prep and look deeper at the market as the summer progresses.

Las Vegas does have a chunk of cap space opening up after Jimmy Garoppolo’s post-June 1 designation arrives. The quarterback coming off the books will open up about $24 million of cap space next month, so a move before or after then, to add a veteran presence to the cornerback room is opportune.