“Quick, sign Marshawn Lynch.”
The Raiders, more than three weeks after securing the ability to ditch Oakland permanently (or at least as permanent as these peripatetic pirates could ever ditch any city), will temporarily leave Oakland during the draft.
They’ll host a draft event in Oakland on the first day of the draft, and then the Raiders will be hosting a draft party on Day Three at the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign, via Daniel Mano of BayAreaNewsGroup.com.
The move comes at a time when the Raiders will be playing at least one more year in Oakland, and likely at least two. They have a lease at the Oakland Coliseum that gives them the ability to spend both 2017 and 2018 in town.
If they’re going to be openly laying the foundation for growing a fan base in Las Vegas, the Raiders will need to work even harder to hold the Oakland fan base together.