Free Agency Now Just Around the Corner For Ziegler, Raiders

We're officially into March when NFL free agency begins.

Should the Las Vegas Raiders decide that their next franchise quarterback will come in free agency, their evaluation window is narrowing by the day.

"[F]rom an evaluation standpoint, when you're talking specifically about pro free agency, yeah we are [prepared]," Raiders General Manager Dave Ziegler said at the NFL Combine on Tuesday. "Pro free agency is a little bit different than the draft. The draft, the player is there, you have the draft pick, you select them. You're not negotiating a contract or going through those mechanics to get a deal done. But from a straight evaluation standpoint, yeah we've put in a lot of work through that process.

"We've evaluated the quarterbacks who are in pro free agency. We understand what that market is. We have a hierarchy of what that looks like in our building, and we're prepared to execute that plan with the caveat being there's a contract element and a cost element involved in that. So, we don't know what those prices are. Do you know what I mean? You don't really know that until the free agency period begins. So, you have to have a level of fluidity to it, because you don't know necessarily what that price tag is going to be for an individual player or that player could sign with another team. And so, I'd say, if you go in there with just plan A, you could be scrambling if you don't have a multi-step plan in that situation."

The 2023 NFL Draft will go from April 27-29 and be held at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. March 7, 2023, before 4 p.m. EST, is the club's deadline to designate Franchise or Transition Players.

March 13-15 is the free agent negotiation period. Starting at 12 p.m. EDT on March 13 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m. EDT on March 15, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2022 Player Contracts at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15.

The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period begins at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15. The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free-agent market this season.

Please tell us your thoughts when you like our Facebook Page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.