COSTA MESA, Calif. — Kristian Wilkerson made a contested catch on the sideline Monday, and the Las Vegas Raiders players let out a roar. None of them were louder than receivers coach Edgar Bennett.

It’s been an interesting training camp for the Raiders receivers. Michael Gallup, a veteran free-agent signing who spent six seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, surprisingly retired the day before camp, while Davante Adams has missed four straight practices to be with his wife for the birth of their third child. There are some jobs open and plenty more reps were had Tuesday.

“Kristian is making the most of his opportunities,” Bennett said. “He’s been physical, strong, fast, trying to master the playbook and master his techniques.”

With Adams, Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker atop the Raiders depth chart, there are two or three spots open on the roster. DJ Turner may have one locked up due to his special teams skills, and he’s also had a very good camp on offense.

“DJ Turner has really stood out,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “He’s made some plays down the field, and on some sweeps and some handoffs and obviously on the special teams. … Kristian’s had some moments.”

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Netflix’s top-rated “Receiver” docuseries, released last week, shines a bright light on just how frustrated Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams was last season. We all saw Adams slam his helmet on the ground during the loss to the Detroit Lions, but we didn’t hear what he said on the field then — or weeks before — as he was growing more and more disappointed and upset with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s play.

When Garoppolo wasn’t missing an open Adams with bad throws, he was late getting rid of the ball and setting his receiver up for big hits by defensive players.

“I gotta get the f— outta here before I lose my f—ing life,” Adams said during the Week 6 game against the New England Patriots. “I ain’t never been hit this many f—ing times in my career. Every game I get f—ed up.”

Adams is one of the five receivers profiled — and followed behind the scenes with a camera crew — for the streaming show. When he is not relaxing and trying to find peace with his wife and two daughters at home, Adams is busy trying to remain positive on a team struggling to score points.

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Ultimately, the Raiders benched Garoppolo and fired coach Josh McDaniels and general manager…

Jocelyn Pierce, the wife of Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona on June 12. The schedules and statement of financial affairs required in the filing provide a detailed disclosure of the family’s financial status and history, including that Antonio, 45, is subject to judgments that amount to more than $28 million.

According to documents obtained by The Athletic, Jocelyn stated the lenders owed those judgments have attempted to satisfy their judgments from the couple’s assets. The motion goes on to state that two of those lenders — Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation (holding a $23 million judgment) and Hyundai Capital America (holding a $4.5 million judgment) — recently attempted to garnish Antonio’s wages with the Raiders.

It was after those attempts that Jocelyn filed for bankruptcy to “protect her assets and those of the marital community,” according to the documents. The bankruptcy filing took place in Arizona because that’s where Jocelyn officially resides. She has been granted an extension until July 12 to “accurately gather all information concerning the community property while attending to her home and children.”

The Raiders hired Antonio as their linebackers…

Diversity is nothing new to the Raiders. Literally since the inception of the franchise in the American Football League in 1960, it’s been woven into their fabric.

The Raiders quarterback that inaugural season was Tom Flores, the first Latino starting quarterback in professional football. In 1968, the Raiders made Eldridge Dickey the first Black quarterback to be drafted in the first round (though they immediately moved him to wide receiver). Twenty years after Flores broke a barrier as a player, he became the first head coach of color to win a Super Bowl when he led the Raiders to a win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV.

Flores was succeeded by Mike Shanahan in 1988. Just four games into Shanahan’s second season, he was fired and replaced on an interim basis by Art Shell. A Hall of Fame player with the Raiders from 1968 to 1982, Shell went 7-5 and was promoted ahead of the 1990 season, making him the first full-time Black head coach in NFL history.

But the Raiders’ willingness to blaze trails hasn’t been limited to football operations. In 1997, they hired Amy Trask as the NFL’s first female CEO. And in 2022, the franchise hired Sandra Douglass Morgan as the first Black woman team president in league history. When Antonio Pierce and Champ Kelly were…

Before every game, Patrick Graham listens to Mobb Deep to get into the zone. The Las Vegas Raiders’ 44-year-old defensive coordinator grew up in Waterbury, Conn., immersed in the rap duo’s dark, grimy, unabashed lyrics. Revisiting songs from their catalog and enjoying a can of Coca-Cola are two non-negotiable tasks for him before kickoff.

Raiders players never see Graham’s routine — he calls plays from the press box — but they know about it. They also know about his wife, Pamela, and their two children, the football career that got him to Yale, his pet peeves, his favorite foods and other aspects of his journey that made him into the man he is today. When he was hired by the Raiders last year, Graham stressed the importance of a reciprocal exchange of information with players before anything else.

“First and foremost, I’m a teacher,” Graham said last week. “And as a teacher, the best way to get them to learn and to adhere to the lessons is to let them know that you care about the person, not just the football player.”

That extended beyond the practice fields and meeting rooms into sharing meals in the cafeteria and meeting up outside of team headquarters. The relationships that emerged transcended football, but the effects translated to the gridiron. The…

NFL team owners collect millions in revenue. They wield outsized power over their organizations and in their communities. They point to the bottom line, wins and losses, when firing coaches and executives, sometimes without giving them much time. But their own won-lost records appear nowhere.

Even people who follow the NFL closely might not know whether Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross owns a better record than New York Giants owner John Mara (he does).

They might not know whether female owners account for two of the five highest winning percentages since taking over their teams (they do).

They might not know that the only team without a traditional owner could lose 200 games overnight without dipping below .500 (the Green Bay Packers could).

They might not know that five of the last six owners to buy (rather than inherit) a team make up the bottom five in win percentage (they do — the lone exception is the Buffalo Bills’ Terry Pegula).

Some of these ownership situations are difficult to evaluate for reasons such as owners allowing their offspring to operate their teams. I’ve used simple criteria in ranking owners from worst to best win rates below. For our purposes, wins and losses are counted for owners after the NFL has approved their purchases; after an owner…

Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis told ESPN on Monday he has “come to an agreement” with future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady to join the organization’s ownership group, pending NFL approval. Sports Illustrated also confirmed Brady’s minority stake. Here’s what you need to know:

• Davis has been looking for a limited partner and was in talks with Magic Johnson a year ago. Johnson wound up being a part of the Commanders’ new ownership group.
• Brady has previously bought ownership stakes in the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA and a pickleball expansion team in the MLP. Davis is also the primary owner of the Aces.
• Brady, 45, retired in February following a historic 23-year career, winning seven Super Bowls.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

What does this mean for Brady’s broadcasting future?

Sports television entities punted long ago on the notion that their broadcasters can’t have some kind of ownership stake in teams. The question usually comes down to optics: Are you comfortable having your broadcaster call games or discuss said team? Usually, the answer is yes.

In the case of Brady, as ESPN originally reported, Fox has blessed the arrangement based on sourcing. That tracks historically with all networks. If you are a tennis fan, for instance, you have long…

Tom Brady and Raiders owner Mark Davis are meeting to discuss a role for Brady as an ownership partner for Las Vegas, league sources confirmed to The Athletic. Here’s what you need to know:

• Davis has been looking for a limited partner and was in talks with Magic Johnson a year ago. Johnson wound up being a part of the Commanders’ new ownership group.
• Brady has previously bought ownership stakes in the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA and a pickleball expansion team in the MLP. Davis is also the primary owner of the Aces.
• Brady retired in February following a historic 23-year career, winning seven Super Bowls.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

What would this mean for his broadcasting future?

Sports television entities punted long ago on the notion that their broadcasters can’t have some kind of ownership stake in teams. The question usually comes down to optics: Are you comfortable having your broadcaster call games or discuss said team? Usually the answer is yes.

In the case of Brady, as ESPN reported, Fox has blessed the arrangement based on sourcing. That tracks historically with all networks. If you are a tennis fan, for instance, you have long watched broadcasters analyze matches while actively coaching other players on tour. Brady, if he does land in the broadcasting…