Raiders delay decision on holding OTAS

After a day-long series of meetings on Wednesday, Raiders players will take the next 24 hours to assess the latest information before taking a vote on whether to participate in the in-person phase of the upcoming offseason team activity program.

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Raiders opted to hold off for a day on declaring a position after the NFL informed clubs of a revised OTA format in which in-person activities have been delayed until May 17.

The Raiders, as a group, want to make sure they are unified in a decision. “We’ll have another meeting to talk the results through and make sure everyone’s on the same page,” the person said.

The NFL informed clubs on Wednesday that the initial phase of the offseason has been extended from the normal two weeks to four weeks and concludes on May 14. According to a memo the NFL sent to clubs, during this phase all team meetings and classroom work will be done virtually and prohibits any normal on-field activities.

To the extent that players want to get voluntary on-field work done, they may do so on their own during normal business hours provided no footballs or coaches are present. In addition, players are allowed to work out in facility weight rooms on a voluntary basis under the direction of each club’s strength and conditioning coach.

There are financial implications to the Raiders’ decision. Seven players have money tied into workout bonuses. Denzelle Good ($480,000) and Carl Nassib, Cory Littleton,

Nick Kwiatkoski and Darren Waller ($250,000), Jalen Richard ($125,000) and Derek Carr and Jeff Heath ($100,000) all stand to lose money if they don’t participate in OTAS.

Teams may conduct 10 days of voluntary OTAS in which players can be at the facility no more than six hours per day. Of that, no more than two hours can be devoted to on-field work. All clubs can conduct a mandatory three-day minicamp.