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Las Vegas Raiders GM John Spytek.

It’s possible that years from now, people will look back at this offseason as the year the Las Vegas Raiders finally turned things around. The two big additions were head coach Klint Kubiak and quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

If those two are a hit, the Raiders will be good. However, the front office didn’t fix every hole this offseason. The team was very lackluster at wide receiver last season, so it was widely expected for them to address the position in free agency and/or the draft.

All the Raiders ended up doing was signing Jalen Nailor and drafting Malik Benson in the sixth round. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell said not doing more to address wide receiver was the worst move the Raiders did this offseason.

“What’s missing is the one thing just about everybody expected the Raiders to hit this offseason: receiver,” Barnwell wrote. “Sure, they return Brock Bowers, downfield threat Tre Tucker and a pair of 2025 top-115 picks in Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton Jr., but we saw how limited this offense was when Bowers was compromised by his knee injury. With Mendoza coming in as the No. 1 pick, it seemed likely that the Raiders would consider adding multiple new starters at wide receiver.

“That never really happened. The one significant addition Vegas did make was signing former Vikings third wideout Nailor, whose three-year, $35 million deal has $18 million guaranteed at signing. Nailor has a role in the right offense as a second or third wideout who can do some dirty work and catch the occasional pass, but it would be a major surprise if he suddenly emerged as a legitimate second option in the offense behind Bowers.”

Raiders Could Still Add WR

The Raiders have missed out on most of the top available wide receivers. They’re not going to find a long-term impact player this late in the offseason.

That said, there are still some capable veterans in free agency. Barnwell thinks the Raiders need to add one.

“It’s possible that general manager John Spytek might have hoped to use some of the draft picks he was supposed to get for Crosby on wide receiver help, but the Raiders have had chances to add playmakers and been hesitant,” Barnwell wrote. “Could they have signed Jauan Jennings as he lingered in free agency for months before taking Nailor’s old job in Minnesota? Should they be in the market for Stefon Diggs, who ranked second among all wideouts in ESPN’s receiver scores last season? There’s still time to add somebody between now and the start of the season, but this receiving corps feels incomplete at best.”

Raiders Could Also See What They Have

It was just a year ago that the Raiders drafted Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton. Though neither was great as a rookie, it’s hard to know how much of that was their fault and how much of it was because of poor offensive playcalling.

General manager John Spytek may just want to see what he has in the players on the roster. If Bech or Thornton turns out to be a very good player, then the Raiders didn’t have to use resources on a position they didn’t need to.