Raiders looking to hold joint training camp practices but with what team?

It’s been four years since the Raiders had joint training camp practices with another NFL team. Back in 2014, they made their way down to Southern California to practice with the Dallas Cowboys, who hold their training camp in Oxnard.

If you’ll remember, that practice resulted in quite a brawl on the sideline with a heave Raider fan presence in the crowd.

Well, with Jon Gruden back, he’s looking to get back to that.

“We are trying to work that out,” Gruden said of the possibility of holding joint training camp practices this year. “I don’t have anything official yet to announce, but I have been in contact with a coach in the NFL and we’re going to try to work something out. We’ll have some announcement, hopefully, in the coming weeks.”

That sounds promising. Though just which team they will be facing is not yet know, we can narrow it down to a few possibilities.

It’s logically going to be either a California team and/or one of the teams they face in the preseason. Those Cali teams are the 49ers, Rams, Chargers, and Cowboys (camp). Raiders preseason opponents are (in order) the Lions, Rams, Packers, and Seahawks. Obviously the odds are higher for teams on the preseason schedule.

The Chargers, being division rivals, would be a little surprising to see them have joint practices. The 49ers are already holding joint practices with the Texans. The Packers and Seahawks face the Raiders in the final two preseason games, and training camp typically wraps up prior to the second preseason game.

The Rams are holding joint practices with the Ravens in week one of the preseason, which they will have at the Ravens’ facility prior to their preseason match-up. I wouldn’t say that rules them out for then hosting the Raiders at their facility prior to week two, as several teams are considering multiple joint practices with preseason opponents.

One team considering multiple joint preseason opponents is the Lions who face the Raiders in the first preseason games.

“We’re talking to a couple teams,” Lions GM Bob Quinn said. “We’re working on one. We’ll see if it happens with two. We’re not quite there yet. I wish I could tell you more, but I don’t even know.”

If it’s the Lions in week one it would be at the Raiders’ Napa training camp facility prior to their preseason match-ups in Oakland.

Also keep in mind, the Raiders could always head down to Southern California and have joint practices with the Cowboys before facing the Rams. After all, the year the Raiders went down there in 2014, they weren’t even facing the Cowboys in the preseason. And the Cowboys are known for holding joint practices.

I’d say that puts the best odds for joint practices at either the Lions in Napa before week one or the Rams or Cowboys in Southern California prior to week two.