3 Players Raiders Must Cut in 2024 NFL Offseason

After a slow start to the 2023 season, the Las Vegas Raiders have some real optimism for the future. The Josh McDaniels era is officially over and the Raiders are 2-0 since Antonio Pierce took over as the interim head coach.

But, realistically, the Raiders’ best chance at competing still lies in 2024. According to The New York Times’ playoff projections, the Raiders have just a five percent chance to make the postseason this year.

An underrated element of the Raiders’ shift in leadership is that Dave Ziegler was also relieved of his duties as general manager. That means there’s going to some inevitable remodeling of the roster.

It also means that there will be multiple players who are released to either clear cap space or open up a roster spot.

Whether it’s because of their contract or poor performance this season, these three should be on the chopping block next offseason.

A lot of things have already changed since Josh McDaniels was fired and Antonio Pierce took over. The fact that Hunter Renfrow is no longer involved in the offense hasn’t.

Renfrow saw just one target in the Sunday Night Football win and only had three against the Giants the week before. On the season, he’s averaging just two targets per game and he has just 13 receptions on the year.

When the Raiders signed Jakobi Meyers this offseason it was hard to envision both receivers commanding large roles in the offense. Although Meyers was a former Patriots player with connections to McDaniels, he appears to be a part of the offense moving forward.

The same can’t be said for Renfrow. The problem is that he’s set to be paid like an integral part moving forward. The receiver carries a $13.7 million cap hit for next season, but only $5.5 million of it is guaranteed.

In other words, the Raiders can save about $8 million against the cap by cutting ties with Renfrow. It would be more ideal to find a trade partner. He’s not that far removed from his 1,000-yard campaign in 2021, but the Raiders didn’t find a new home for him at the deadline so there might just not be a market.

The Raiders hit free agency hard in an attempt to turn around a woeful secondary last offseason. Marcus Epps was one of the bigger signings, inking a two-year, $12 million contract coming off a good year with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022.

The coaching change, paired with the seventh-highest cap hit on the books next season, might be too much to overcome for Epps to be on the roster in 2024.

Epps only had one year of being a full-time starter in Philadelphia. The idea behind signing a player like that is that there is still some development that can happen as they continue to get those kinds of reps.

That hasn’t really happened, though. Epps has an identical PFF grade to last season at just 56.6. Through 10 games, Epps has just one pass defended and no interceptions.

Much of Epps’ $7.3 million cap hit is not guaranteed. The Raiders would save $3.4 million by releasing him this offseason. With a new general manager taking over and looking to bring in his own free agents, that might be too good to pass up.

Brandon Facyson was another signing among the barrage the front office did to fix the secondary. The 29-year-old had a one-year stint with the Raiders in 2021 before going to Indianapolis for a year, but Ziegler brought him back on a two-year, $6.5 million contract.

Unfortunately, Facyson has not played a single snap for the Silver and Black this season. He was placed on injured reserve at the beginning of the season and he still hasn’t been activated.

That’s given the other cornerbacks on the roster 10 weeks to audition for jobs next season.

That includes Amik Robertson who is putting together a great season. He’s allowing a passer rating of just 45.4 this season.

Robertson is set to become a free agent in 2024, which means the Raiders may have to loosen the purse strings if they want to bring him back. Releasing Facyson might be a way to clear up some cash. Virtually none of his $3.6 million cap hit is guaranteed in 2024.