Raiders’ draft needs extend well beyond this season

On the surface, the Raiders’ draft needs for 2021 are simple. With starting job openings at right tackle and free safety and potentially slot cornerback, those positions are expected to draw considerable focus.

But by taking a longer-term look, their needs look more involved than initially assumed.

That is the result of the strategic manner in which the Raiders have drawn up contracts. They have been written to enable them to quickly maneuver out of deals that aren’t working. The majority of free agents they signed last month were brought on board on one-year deals.

The result is a roster for 2022 that, as of today, has 25 players under contract and a projected $50 million in cap space.

There is good and bad in that. On one hand, the structure of the contracts the Raiders drew up during the 2019 and 2020 free-agent hauls provided maximum flexibility to discard players who weren’t playing up to expectations.

For instance, Trent Brown, Lamarcus Joyner and Tyrell Williams signed four-year deals in 2019, but the guaranteed portion of each player’s contract essentially was paid in full over the first two years. As a result, moving on from all three players dinged the Raiders just $2.5 million in lost cap-hit money. In other words, the breakups were painless relative to future salary caps.

On the other hand, Brown, Joyner and Williams also represent personnel miscalculations. For the Raiders, it is paramount they begin hitting on a higher percentage of player acquisitions.

That said, in analyzing their future commitments, the glaring needs at right tackle and free safety are just part of a roster puzzle for which other position groups need to be addressed.

Of the six interior defensive linemen under contract for 2021, all are on one-year deals. With no guarantee that any will be back next season, it seems likely the Raiders will address defensive tackle with one or two draft picks.

And perhaps even defensive end will be addressed, since only four of their 15 total defensive linemen are signed beyond 2021.

Of the defensive tackle draft class, Levi Onwuzurike of Washington, Christian Barmore of Alabama, Marlon Tuipulotu and Jay Tufele of Southern California and Daviyon Nixon of Iowa are players to watch.

At linebacker, two of the Raiders’ projected three starters are operating on contracts that extend beyond 2021 — Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski. But Nicholas Morrow, the third starter, is on a one-year deal, and only second-year prospect Tanner Muse is signed beyond 2021 among the reserves.

The linebacker situation offers a compelling argument for drafting a linebacker this week, maybe even in the first round, where Penn State’s Micah Parsons and Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah could be available at No. 17.

On the offensive line, the hole created by trading Brown to the New England Patriots is glaring. But the long-range outlook at guard also is not secure. Only Denzelle Good and second-year prospect John Simpson are under contract beyond this season.

In fact, only four offensive linemen are under contract beyond 2021 — Good, Simpson, center Andre James and left tackle Kolton Miller.

Good and Richie Incognito, the projected starters at guard, recently were signed to two-year and one-year deals, respectively. In Good’s case, given how the $3,190,000 guaranteed portion of his deal is paid in 2021, he essentially is on a one-year deal.

Depending on Simpson’s progress, the Raiders could be looking for two new starters at that position next year.

That could create a situation in which the Raiders address right tackle with a prospect such as Southern Cal’s Alijah Vera-Tucker, who has the versatility to play tackle but is viewed as a potential All-Pro caliber guard. The Raiders could draft Vera-Tucker to play right tackle in 2021 and then, depending on how things pan out, kick him inside to guard.

Meanwhile, at wide receiver, the Raiders have nine players under contract, but only three — Henry Ruggs, Hunter Renfrow and Bryan Edwards — are signed beyond the current season.

Of them, only Renfrow represents an established level of certainty.

While the Raiders have high hopes for Ruggs and Edwards, a pair of high draft picks in 2020, it might make sense to dip into a deep draft class to add another prospect.

Names to keep an eye on in the third and fourth rounds are Cade Johnson of South Dakota State, Nico Collins of Michigan, Tutu Atwell of Louisville, Simi Fehoko of Stanford and D’wayne Eskridge of Western Michigan.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.