ALAMEDA, Calif. -- With some $50 million worth of salary-cap space to work with, Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie figures to once again be an active player on the open market. Expect new coach Jack Del Rio to have a heavier influence on the roster moves Oakland makes than many of his predecessors.

Del Rio was instrumental in building the Jacksonville Jaguars into a playoff contender during his previous stint as an NFL head coach. He’s coached in the league for nearly 20 years and has maintained good knowledge of players, both on his teams and others. Owner Mark Davis said Del Rio gave him a player-by-player breakdown of the Raiders offensive roster during one of their two meetings prior to Del Rio being hired.

That experience and knowledge will come in handy when free agency begins.

Although McKenzie has said he prefers to build through the draft, the Raiders are in position financially to add several top-flight free agents. Several names have already been rumored to be potential targets for Oakland, including Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and Denver tight end Julius Thomas. Current Raiders defensive lineman Justin Tuck went on radio Thursday and said he’d welcome the chance to play along Suh.

Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. But expect Del Rio’s fingerprints to be on any move the Raiders make. That’s something few Raiders coaches could say. Late owner Al Davis would listen to input from his coaches but ultimately built the roster the way he wanted. McKenzie had the heavy hand when he became Oakland’s general manager out of necessity. Dennis Allen had never been a head coach previously and didn’t have the experience Del Rio has.

“We’ll evaluate, share information and help make good decisions on how we put it all together,” Del Rio said. “You just start working at the process. That’s what we’re going to need to do, be very thorough. Know our own guys best before we start the process; know our own and have a real thorough evaluation on our own roster and start there. Then get to know the rest of those that come available.

“Obviously you lose some of those guys that get signed back by their teams, so it’s a fluid process. It’s one that there is a lot of work involved in, and a lot of sharing of information and we’ll work through that with our staff.”