Answering Your Las Vegas Raiders Emails, Questions

Each week the massive fan base of the Las Vegas Raiders directs their email features questions abaout the Silver and Black to us, and we are committed to answerring them each week.

Hello Hondo.  When you talk to your sources around the NFL, do they have a comparison for Aidan O’Connell to anyone?  Love your work, Mark W.

I have heard more than one use Phil Simms from the New York Giants as a player after one year; they think AO4 reminds them of him.

Hondo, your propping up for Aidan O’Connell is ridiculous.  There hasn’t been one player who showed nothing in his rookie year that became anything.  Stop with the bull (excrement) and give it a rest.  Frank E.

There are many, but it doesn’t fit your narrative, like the best in NFL history, who didn’t even play, Tom Brady

Hondo, I would like to offer a different angle on Tom Telesco, why I don’t want him to be the GM, or at least why I am scared.  He always had his team on the verge of being really good, and they always had talent.  But, they never did it.  Am I wrong?  Kyle W.

That is accurate, but a GM's job is to accumulate talent and secure the coach. He has the coach here, so we shall see.

Hondo I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the draft grades on AO4.  What I really liked was Drew Stanton disagreeing and saying not a first-round guy but a second.  If you had to say right now, who starts for my Raiders in the first game?  Victor B.

The Raiders' QB1 job is for Aidan O’Connell to lose. Gardner will get a fair shot to win it, but it is AO4s to lose.

Hondo, I heard that NIL helped one kid to slip.  Did you hear that and can you tell us why?  Brian K.

That is true, but I know of one player it actually helped him rise up a draft board.  One of the biggest things that NFL teams fear is how a player changes once they get money.  We all have seen it, a player gets to the NFL, has money for the first time, and is never the same.  One player with significant NIL money in his NFL Combine interview came off as entitled and arrogant, and a particular team official told me, “He saved us some money, we loved him, but he changed, and thank God we got to see it.”  Conversely, another team interviewed a young man with good NIL money who came from poverty, and it inspired him to do more, to be better, and he rose up draft boards.

Every time something changes (NIL), people look for reasons to complain.  Smart people embrace change and look for the benefits.  NIL has hurt college sports, but I do believe it has helped professional sports.

Hondo, do you know how much money the Raiders have salary cap-wise to play with?  Ken D

Post-June 2, when Jimmy Garoppolo is released, it is roughly $37 million.

Hondo, are the Raiders done in free agency or possibly a trade? I love your work. Matt M.

They are not done, but that doesn’t mean they will be dumb.  If something fits in their frugal but not cheap paradigm, they would pull the trigger immediately.  I can tell you that I believe, and I think the Raiders believe there will be people on the 53-man roster who aren’t here yet.  If it doesn’t fit the paradigm, they won’t, but if they do, for sure.

Hondo, I hated the hire of Tom Telesco, and if I were being honest, I could say it was because I hated the Chargers. I also wanted Champ Kelly, as did you. But you also told me that it wasn’t Tom’s fault, and it would be stupid to dislike Tom for that reason. Anyway, what do you think is his best trait?  Do you like him personally now that you have gotten to know him?  Adam C.

As the people I trust told me, he is honorable. He is a man of character and integrity, and I respect that. I have gotten to know him and been around him on and off the record in private and working environments, and everything I was told was true. The Raiders have a fine man steering the ship.

Hondo, I had a coworker something he heard you say and I can’t find it.  If you could help, I would greatly appreciate it.  He told us that you were telling what an NFL executive said about Tom Telesco and the last draft and what it meant for Antonio Pierce?  Could you direct me there, please?  Beth L.

Absolutely, Beth.  I was told, “When you look at who and what type of player Tom (Telesco) picked, they were all (Antonio) Pierce-type players.  Many GMs hedge when they don’t hire the coach, so they have players that do what they want with the next guy.  Tom was all in on Pierce, and that showed you he is all in.  Those picks told me they are on the same page, and he believes in Pierce.”

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