Silver Minings: Raiders offseason schedule announced

It feels like the 2021 season just ended for the Las Vegas Raiders but the start of the 2022 season is just around the corner.

Any team that hired a new head coach can begin their offseason program on Monday and the Bears, Dolphins, Saints and Giants will be taking advantage of that. However, the Raiders and the five other teams who have new men in charge are opting to wait a week and kick things off the following Monday.

The NFL released the rest of the schedule for the offseason workouts and Las Vegas’ is as follows:

First day – April 11

Voluntary minicamp – April 25-27

OTA practices – May 23-24, 26, June 1-3 & 13-14

Mandatory minicamp – June 7-9

The start of Rookie minicap is missing from the list above, but that date will be determined shortly after the draft.

Voluntary minicamp is one more perk of having a new head coach. That gives the Raiders three extra days to implement their new schemes, on top of the additional week for the offseason program.

Exciting times as a new era of Raiders football is about to kickoff.

In other Raiders’ links:

• Otito Ogbonnia, DT, UCLA scouting report: a former powerlifter and nationally ranked shot-putter who made Bruce Feldman’s freaks list with a 685-pound squat and 440-pound bench while having an 82-inch wingspan.
• Johnathan Hankins re-signs: Big Hank is back on a one-year deal to help stabilize the defensive tackle spot for the Silver and Black.
• John Gruden’s Vegas house sells: the team’s former head coach sold his house in the desert for $7,025,000 which was about $500,000 below asking.
• Abraham Lucas or Tariq Woolen?: cast your vote in one of our newest columns where you get to be Dave Ziegler and make draft decisions for the Silver and Black.