Jimmy Garoppolo will be released by the Raiders today, but the Silver and Black are also moving on from another offensive piece that hasn’t performed up to par. Hunter Renfrow is scheduled for release, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com
In the 2022 offseason, Renfrow was offered a two-year, $32 million contract; oddly, though, he didn’t perform well under that arrangement. The veteran slot receiver is now a free agent on the open market after last year’s trade attempts resulted in no deal. Renfrow’s basic pay for the upcoming season was scheduled to be $11.2MM.
The Raiders will save more than $8MM with this release, even if they did not receive anything from the Clemson alum after his 1,000-yard campaign, which was crucial to their Rich Bisaccia-overseen postseason appearance. Renfrow has combined for just 585 yards over the last two seasons, following his 1,038-yard 2021 record. Renfrow didn’t fit in with the Raiders’ most recent offensive plan, even though both McDaniels and Dave Ziegler approved of the extension. This will be remembered as a major error made during the brief tenure of Josh McDaniels.
At the 2023 deadline, the Raiders traded for Renfrow as Mark Davis was ready for yet another personnel change. They were unsuccessful in persuading a team to take on Renfrow’s remaining basic salary prior to the firings of McDaniels and Ziegler. Last year, Las Vegas refused to take a pay cut in order to transfer Renfrow. This offseason, the team tried again to trade the former Jon Gruden draft pick, but nothing worked out. Renfrow, 28, will be another slot receiver on the market, with Tyler Boyd and Curtis Samuel.
Given his output under Gruden and in the final months of 2021, Renfrow presents an intriguing prospect for a bounce-back deal. After two consecutive seasons of 600 yards or more, the former fifth-round pick established himself as the Raiders’ top complement to Darren Waller in 2019 and 2020, following the collapse of their Antonio Brown trade prior to the 2019 campaign. In the latter stretch of 2021, with Waller out for a significant portion, Derek Carr looked to Renfrow as his go-to chain mover. The Saints seem like a possible suitor, but during the last two seasons, Renfrow has not produced much high-caliber tape.
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