NFL Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders Should Target Demaryius Thomas In Free Agency

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Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

There’s a decent chance that Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas enters free agency this offseason. If he does end up hitting the open market, the Oakland Raiders better be blowing up his agent’s phone when the new league year begins on March 10.

If the Raiders do choose to pursue Thomas, they will obviously face some hurdles.

First and foremost, it’s not going to be cheap to bring Thomas to Oakland. Considering how dominant he was this year and the handful of teams desperate for help out wide, Thomas will be a hot commodity if he hits the open market. The Raiders will be forced to throw a huge contract at him, which Mark Davis may or may not be willing to do.

Second, Thomas simply might not be interested in taking his talents to Oakland, a team that finished the 2014 campaign with a 3-13 record. Especially considering he’s spent the last few years with a contender, making the move to a team like the Raiders might be too much of a turn off for the explosive receiver – even if the money is right.

If they did manage to convince Thomas to come to Oakland, though, the Raiders would be instantly upgrading their offense astronomically.

Thomas is obviously an elite No. 1 NFL receiver. The Raiders haven’t had a true No. 1 receiver for some time, and have long been looking to acquire one. Not only would Thomas fill that void, but he’d give young quarterback Derek Carr a reliable option to throw. His effectiveness in the screen game would also take some pressure off of Carr, allowing him to get the ball out of his hands quicker.

Defenses would also be forced to respect Thomas’ presence in the pass game by keeping their safeties deep, which could make running ball a little easier for Latavius Murray and the Oakland offense.

This is all, of course, assuming the Broncos don’t either re-sign Thomas or slap him with the franchise tag. There’s a good chance they do one of those two things, but if for some reason they don’t, the Raiders will certainly be in play for one of the 2015 free agency class’ top targets.

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