The Raiders are sitting pretty well in terms of cap space going into free agency. They are projected to be $21 million under the salary cap, but they have several players they could move on from this offseason.
Two of those players are free-agent signings from 2020 in Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski. Neither player projects as a starter in 2022 and they each have big cap numbers going into the offseason.
That is why ESPN writer Paul Gutierrez believes the Raiders could move on from both this offseason. Here are his thoughts on both players heading into free agency:
“Two guys to watch are linebackers Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski. They were signed to revamp the LB corps in 2020, and neither player has lived up to the hype, as Littleton was replaced by rookie Divine Deablo last season and a banged-up Kwiatkoski had all kinds of trouble staying on the field. Littleton, though, has a cap number of more than $15.7 million for 2022. Yikes.”
If the Raiders post-June 1 cut Littleton and Kwiatoksi, they could save nearly $19 million in cap space. While the Raiders don’t desperately need the cap space, they could use it to help upgrade their offensive line or secondary.
And considering neither player was much of a factor last year and there is a new coaching staff/front office coming in, these seem like pretty easy moves for the Raiders to make.
