The Raiders' salary cap is built for a spending spree in 2016
The Raiders were armed with a league-leading $54 million in cap space heading into the free agent period.
General manager Reggie McKenzie was prudent with the team's finances and signed few jaw-dropping deals. But that could change again in 2016, when Oakland could be armed with nearly $70 million in cap space to spend on new players.
The Sporting News' Jason Fitzgerald believes that McKenzie could be biding his time to spend big, waiting to see what he has in his young nucleus.
"Though it is difficult for fans to accept, it seems as if all planning has been geared to the 2016 offseason," Fitzgerald wrote. "If QB Derek Carr and LB Khalil Mack lead the Raiders to a respectable season in 2015, McKenzie will likely see the time being right to spend on high-quality players in free agency to improve the talent around a core of young stars the team found on draft weekend."
Who could the Raiders conceivably grab in their 2016 free agent haul?
They could spend big on any top-shelf wideout -- Demaryius Thomas, A.J. Green, Julio Jones, or Dez Bryant -- and immediate sport one of the NFL's scariest receiving duos with Amari Cooper.
Oakland could also try to attract Justin Houston to pair with Khalil Mack and hurt a divisional opponent.