Silver And Black Pride
While just about all undrafted free agent contracts are worth roughly $3.1 million in total value, like any deal in the NFL, the guaranteed money is much more important. That really shows how much a team is committed to a player, and in the case of an undrafted rookie, that can often be an indiciation into how strongly the organization feels said player will make the 53-man roster or contribute down the line.
Spotrac has the details on the money for the Las Vegas Raiders’ 2026 UDFA class, allowing us to come up with some takeaways and form a few insights into the position battles heading into training camp.
This will be one of the biggest competitions to keep tabs on in Las Vegas this summer, since the offense lacks depth at wide receiver and there’s a good chance at least one UDFA makes the team. If that’s the case, Corey Rucker and Chase Roberts appear to be heading into camp with an advantage over E.J. Williams and Jonathan Brady.
Rucker is tied with Cian Slone as the highest-paid or highest-guaranteed undrafted rookie at $272.5k, while Roberts is only $5k behind them in third place. Meanwhile, Williams is only getting $20k, and Brady doesn’t have any guaranteed money since he was a rookie minicamp invite who earned a spot on the 90-man roster.
That likely means Rucker and Roberts will enter training camp a little higher on the depth chart than the two Indiana wideouts. Granted, having familiarity with Fernando Mendoza could prove to be more valuable than immediate cash when it’s all said and done.
As mentioned above, the NC State product is tied for the highest-paid UDFA on the Raiders’ roster. That gives him a good chance to make the team this summer, but the problem is whether there will be a spot available behind Maxx Crosby, Kwity Paye, Malcolm Koonce and Keyron Crawford. The team did roster five edges last year, but that was a different coaching staff and scheme. Plus, the fifth edge was Brennan Jackson, who was claimed off waivers, and returns in 2026 to fight for a roster spot.
All of that being said, the organization has already invested a decent chunk of change in Slone, while cutting Jackson wouldn’t result in any dead cap hit, per Spotrac.
We know Daniel Carlson won’t be the Silver and Black’s kicker anymore, and the expectation is that Matt Gay and Kansei Matsuzawa will battle for the job in training camp. However, if we’re following the money, it seems much more likely that ‘The Tokoyo Toe’ will begin the season on the practice squad. He’s only getting $25k guaranateed while Gay’s contract carries $1.35 million of dead cap space if cut, per Spotrac.
Staying within the special teams unit, but on a different note, the long-snapper competition is very much up for grabs, and the UDFA...
