The Las Vegas Raiders have decided against bringing back many of their free agents from last season. The team’s wide receiver corps is already thin but they didn’t show much interest in bringing back Terrace Marshall Jr.
He was signed during the season following the Davante Adams trade and played in seven games under head coach Antonio Pierce. With Pete Carroll taking over at head coach, he hasn’t seemed eager to bring back a lot of Pierce players.
Marshall is now off the market. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the wide receiver has signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles.
This is a logical landing spot for him. The Eagles have done good work with wide receivers in recent years. Though Marshall hasn’t lived up to his status as a former second-round pick, he’s still only 24 and has plenty of upside.
He’s got good size at 6-foot-2 and is very fast. He was averaging over 30 catches a season before last year with the Raiders so he could be productive as a No.3 or No. 4 wide receiver. Marshall’s best path toward success is to become a reliable deep threat.
Could Raiders Eye Jayden Higgins?
The Raiders haven’t addressed wide receiver in free agency at all despite it being such a big need. Jakobi Meyers is a very good No. 2 and Tre Tucker is likely a No. 3 at best.
The Raiders need a No. 1 receiver and at this point in the offseason, they may have to look for one in the draft. There likely isn’t one worth taking with the No. 6 pick but Las Vegas could look to draft on in the second round.
Tashan Reed of The Athletic pitched a trade in a mock draft that sees the Raiders add an additional second-round pick. With that pick, they would select Iowa State wide receiver Jayden Higgins.
“The Raiders didn’t feel comfortable waiting until the third round to come on the clock again, so they moved up to draft Higgins,” Reed wrote. “He’s 6-foot-4, 214 pounds, ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash at the combine and posted a vertical leap of 39 inches. He has the prerequisite size, speed and athleticism you look for in a dynamic outside receiver.
“Higgins also has the positional flexibility to line up as a slot receiver, possesses excellent ball skills and is a smooth route runner. He’s coming off his most productive college season with 87 catches for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns. He needs to work on expanding his route tree and isn’t the best at creating yards after the catch, but he’d be another day-one starter for the Raiders. Brugler compared Higgins to Houston Texans receiver Nico Collins and said he’s ‘an ascending height-weight-speed athlete with the physicality and catch radius to be a productive NFL starter as he continues developing his route/release precision.'”
Raiders Still Have Options in Free Agency
The Raiders aren’t likely to find a high-end No. 1 wide receiver in free agency but they could improve their depth. The two best remaining options are Keenan Allen and Amari Cooper.
Those are two players the franchise should be very familiar with. Allen spent several years playing the Raiders twice a season as a member of the Los Angeles Chargers. Cooper was drafted by the team in 2015 and could have some unfinished business.
