The Raiders have finally started peeling some bad money off the books, but the bill from past mistakes is still very much sitting on the table.
With John Spytek now at the helm and Klint Kubiak working closely alongside him, Las Vegas is trying to move forward. Even so, the team is still carrying dead cap from contracts that never came close to paying off. Some of those obligations have now disappeared ahead of the 2026 NFL season, while others are still dragging down the cap.
Davante Adams is no longer one of them. The Raiders were stuck with a $15.7 million hit in 2025 after trading him early in the 2024 season, but that money is finally off the books. Jimmy Garoppolo is gone from the ledger too after costing Las Vegas $12.8 million in 2025 despite starting just six games in 2023.
Gardner Minshew also comes off the books after leaving the Raiders with a $7.7 million cap charge in 2025. Andre James is another name the team can stop accounting for now; after a down 2024 and a costly extension from Tom Telesco, he had carried a $7.3 million dead cap figure last year.
But not every painful contract has been cleared away.
Tyree Wilson still leaves Las Vegas with $3.8 million in dead money after being traded earlier this offseason. The Saints are only taking on a $4.2 million cap hit for him, which makes the Raiders’ side of the move sting even more.
Jakobi Meyers is still on the books as well, though his dead cap number has dropped to $4.3 million from the $9.6 million hit he left behind after being traded midway through the 2025 season.
Then there’s Geno Smith, whose departure created a massive $16.2 million dead cap charge. The move was described as necessary, but it still comes with a steep price for a player who will be starting across the conference.
And at the top of the list is Christian Wilkins, whose deal stands out as one of the worst the Raiders have ever made. Las Vegas paid him $110 million for five games, and still owes him $29.8 million this season. That’s nearly Maxx Crosby money for a player who hasn’t been in the building for over a year.
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Raiders Suddenly Face A Real Maxx Crosby Problem They Cant Ignore
The Cowboys have already spent the early part of the season reshaping their roster financially, restructuring three veteran contracts to create more than $33 million in cap space. That kind of move inevitably invites a bigger question, and in this case it has quickly centered on Maxx Crosby, the Raiders star edge rusher, with speculation building that Dallas could be positioning itself for a run at him before the Week 10 deadline.
For the Raiders, the chatter is impossible to ignore because it comes on top of prior trade discussions between the two teams and a very public dismissal of the rumors from owner Mark Davis. Crosby has been one of the defining players on the roster, which is exactly why any renewed push from Dallas would land with real force in Las Vegas, even if no deal has been finalized and nothing suggests the talks are close to reaching that point. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Rookie Class Could Force Bigger Roles Faster Than Expected
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Fernando Mendoza, Treydan Stukes, Keyron Crawford, Trey Zuhn III, Jermod McCoy and Mike Washington Jr. all entered camp with different paths ahead of them, but the common thread is opportunity. Some are now positioned for starting jobs or meaningful snaps, while others may end up with smaller roles or have their seasons interrupted by injury, leaving the Raiders to sort out just how quickly this class can change the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Veterans Are Still Paying For A Roster-Building Mistake
As the 2026 NFL season approaches, three former Raiders players are still waiting on the kind of offseason phone call that can change a career arc. Alex Cappa, Raheem Mostert and Tyler Lockett are all free agents, and none of them has landed a contract or even a workout invite so far this offseason, which says plenty about how quickly veteran value can fade in a league that is always chasing the next cheaper, younger option.
For Las Vegas, the larger issue is less about one missing player than the ripple effect of roster-building decisions that can linger well past the season in which they were made. Cappa, Mostert and Lockett each brought a track record that once made them easy fits on paper, but their current status leaves their NFL futures unsettled and serves as another reminder that getting the mix right matters long after the moves are made. [Read more 🡒]