2016 NFL offseason: Oakland Raiders needs

Summary

It should go without saying, but the single most important offseason priority for the Raiders this year is finding a permanent place to call home. The team was left on the outside looking in after NFL owners voted to relocate the Rams to Los Angeles and awarded the Chargers first dibs to join them. Who knows what San Diego owner Dean Spanos will do with his team; at one point a move north to L.A. seemed a done deal, but the latest reports make it seem more like Spanos is earnestly trying to get a new stadium deal completed in San Diego.

If the Chargers end up staying put, the Raiders would get an opportunity to join the Rams in Los Angeles. Judging by recent news linking the team to San Antonio, Las Vegas, or maybe even San Diego should the Chargers depart, it’s clear that Oakland owner Mark Davis isn’t content to just sit idly by and wait to see what happens with his division rivals, and nor should he be. The Raiders are too proud a franchise to not take aggressive steps towards ensuring a better future for their team and their fans, and sharing a 50-year-old stadium with a baseball team just isn’t going to cut it anymore in today’s NFL.

Beyond this top overall priority, Oakland is in good shape heading into 2016 as a football club. There’s a lot of promise on both sides of the ball, and the team continues to get stronger and younger at a number of key positions. Saying goodbye to a few aging and/or ineffective players should give the team even more financial leeway to woo the biggest names available in free agency and the draft. The Raiders should target defensive back, offensive line, defensive end, and running back this offseason, and with plenty of money to spend and a solid draft strategy, the team should find themselves in the mix for their first division crown and playoff berth in 13 years.