 
|
News Archive
Jan. 13 - Mar. 31, 2000
The Raiders have announced their preseason opponents. Dates and times will be announced at a later time.
The team will play two road games, then two at home. Week 1 will be at St. Louis and week 2 at Dallas. In week 3 Detroit comes to the Coliseum, and Seattle visits in week 4.
Sources: Raiders.com, Oakland Tribune
There was an ironic development yesterday in the NFL owners' annual meetings when they voted to eliminate the "supervisory" designation among assistant coaches.
The designation affected league rules governing one team hiring away another team's coach(es). The rules allowed an assistant to be hired away from his current team if he was being promoted to a supervisory (assistant) position.
Now, an assistant coach can only be hired away to become a head coach, unless permission is given by his current team to the team pursuing him. All assistant coaching positions, including offensive and defensive coordinators, are lumped in one category.
The irony: at the time former defensive coordinator Willie Shaw's contract was not renewed, the Raiders insisted they weren't so much firing Shaw as they were promoting Check Bresnahan to a supervisory position in order to protect the Raiders' interests in keeping Bresnahan.
Source: Associated Press
I forgot to mention this yesterday:
The Raiders have reportedly offered a $440,000 contract to WR Robert Brooks, the 30-year-old former Packers standout, who quit football due to serious knee and back injuries. Apparently he's considering a comeback.
Sources: Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times
Pro Football Weekly claims that Elijah Alexander has the early inside track for the starting strong side linebacker position.
Yesterday I implied in this section that the Raiders might not really be in any sort of hurry to see their lawsuit come to trial.
In fairness to the Raiders, they insist they're anxious to try the case. Senior assistant Bruce Allen said, "Their side may want a delay, but we'd like to go to court as soon as possible because it's an economic issue that is killing us."
Source: Sacramento Bee
Yesterday the trial judge hearing the litigation between the Raiders and the Oakland governmental entities granted Oakland/Alameda County a postponement of the trial setting date. The Raiders' claim for fraud had been expected to be tried before a jury within the next several months. Now it's likely to be a year or more off.
If you've followed the lawsuits, you'll recall that the court once before ordered the Raiders to cough up internal documents relative to how much money they make. Apparently they're still resisting, because the basis of the request for postponement was delay by the Raiders in allowing Oakland/Alameda County to complete discovery. The judge, obviously, agreed.
This cynic has to wonder why Al Davis behaves this way. First of all, he's just delaying his own lawsuit from coming to trial. Perhaps he doesn't even want a trial. He has a bargaining chip of sorts so long as the litigation continues. If it goes to trial and he loses, he will have accomplished nothing more than wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's fan money we're talking about, folks. Yours and mine.
Moreover, if the Raiders are really in half the financial pickle they claim, it stands to reason they'd be happy to turn over documents buttressing their claim.
My own opinion is that the Raiders would suffer considerable public embarrassment were it to be disclosed that despite the constant accusations and complaints—no NFL owner is as litigation-happy as Al Davis—the Raiders organization is making money hand over fist.
Source: Contra Costa Times
The NFL released the list of players who have been allocated to NFL Europe for the coming spring season.
The Raiders allocated: DE Antonio Anderson to Frankfurt; TE Dirk Christoffersen, Scotland; T Sale Isaia, Frankfurt; DE Nick Martucci, Berlin; S Marcus Ray, Scotland; TE Dorrick Roy, Frankfurt; DT Bob Sapp, Scotland; and WR Rodney Williams, to Barcelona.
Anderson, Isaia, Christoffersen, Sapp and Roy are recently signed free agents. Martucci, whom the Raider coaches like, was in camp with the team until the final cut last summer.
Source: Associated Press
Several papers are reporting that the Raiders will bring in both S Anthony Dorsett—Tony Dorsett's son—and WR Derrick Mayes for workouts next week at their Alameda practice facility. Dorsett, who can also play the corner, played last season with Tennessee; Mayes played with Seattle. The Raiders are also said to be interested in free agents WR Curtis Conway and SS Reggie Tongue, who last played with Chicago and Kansas City, respectively.
(The Raiders will need to hustle if they're serious about Tongue, 26, an excellent young safety. He's already being pursued by Tennessee, Cincinnati and Chicago.
"We've talked a little bit about Reggie going [to Oakland]," said his agent, ex-Raider Vann McElroy, "but right now they don't have a lot of dollars" available under the salary cap.)
As in recent years, the organization doesn't plan to try to sign any blockbuster free agents. The Raiders are looking generally for help at wide receiver and in the defensive secondary. The likelihood is that the team will follow its pattern of recent years, looking for veterans cut by other teams on June 1st.
Said senior assistant Bruce Allen, "We look at free agency a little differently because we know it will run through July and at the appropriate time we'll get the players we feel we need. The fact that we signed the players we wanted to keep at the deadline means we didn't have to rush to replace them."
Sources: Contra Costa Times, San Jose Mercury News, Oakland Tribune
Roster moves: This week the Raiders re-signed free agent WR Rodney Williams and added four free agents: WRs Cory Fleming and Creig Spann, DE Nick Martucci, and DB Sean Woodson. (Williams was an exclusive rights agent, meaning he could accept Oakland's offer or not play in the NFL.)
Spann and Martucci were in camp with the Raiders last season. Fleming last played for Dallas in 1995. Woodson was in camp with Philadelphia last fall.
Source: Contra Costa Times
RB Tyrone Wheatley is one of four finalists for an ESPY in the "Comeback Athlete of the Year" category. The winners will be named during ESPN's eighth annual ESPY show on February 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Source: Raiders.com
The Raiders got themselves into salary cap compliance yesterday with the release of four veteran players, two of them starters on last year's defense.
Gone are starters OLB Richard Harvey, 33, who played the weak side, and SS Anthony Newman, 34. Also released were PR/CB Darrien Gordon and TE Derrick Walker, the best blocker among the team's tight ends.
The Raiders also are reported to have previously restructured the contracts of a number of players: C Barret Robbins, T Lincoln Kennedy, CB Eric Allen, free safeties Eric Turner and Charles Mincy, WR Kenny Shedd, K Michael Husted, and running backs Randy Jordan and Zack Crockett.
Sources: San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, my database, The Sports Xchange.
As reported yesterday, WR Tim Brown, G Steve Wisniewski, MLB Greg Biekert and backup QB Bobby Hoying all reached agreement with the team on new contracts.
That leaves either six or seven free agents, depending on the source. The Sports Xchange shows WR Horace Copeland as an unrestricted free agent; the Contra Costa Times omits him.
The undisputed free agents are DE James Harris, T Darryl Ashmore, CB Marquis Walker, WR Terry Mickens, and QB Wade Wilson (who previously announced his retirement), all unrestricted; and restricted free agent DT Chuck Osborne.
Finally, this week the Raiders signed five free agents: WR Rico Cannon, DE Josh Taves, CB Donnell Day, TE Dirk Christoffersen, TE Dorrick Roy, and T Jeremy Akers. Cannon, Taves, Day and Akers all spent time with the team last year.
Sources: Contra Costa Times, The Sports Xchange.
Late afternoon update: The AP reports that the Raiders have re-signed WR Tim Brown, LB Greg Biekert, G Steve Wisniewski, and QB Bobby Hoying. GO RAIDERS!!
Source: Associated Press (Nando)
The NFL's year 2000 begins at 9:00 p.m. Pacific tonight. All teams must be in compliance with the salary cap by then, and all 1999 player contracts end. Any player not under contract becomes a free agent.
According to the Contra Costa Times, the Raiders were about $5 million over the cap at the start of the week. They have restructured the contracts of four players: C Barret Robbins, CB Eric Allen, K Michael Husted, and WR Kenny Shedd.
Restructuring notwithstanding, expect a few Raiders to be released today, although there are unlikely to be any shockers.
The free agent situation has been the focus of Raider news for weeks now. Unless you've been on Mars you know that Tim Brown can void his contract if he chooses and opt for free agency. MLB Greg Biekert—the heart of the defense—is the other big name whose contract is expiring. The agent for backup QB Bobby Hoying says his client is close to a new deal and expects to remain a Raider. DE James Harris, on the other hand, has been telling reporters for some time that he doesn't think the Raiders will re-sign him.
Other unrestricted free agents: T Darryl Ashmore, WR Horace Copeland, WR Terry Mickens, CB Marquis Walker, and QB Wade Wilson, who has announced his retirement.
DT Chuck Osborne will be a restricted free agent.
In addition to Brown, G Steve Wisniewski is also eligible to void his contract. Unlike Brown, however, whose enormous ego and endless whining offend this observer, Wiz is a team guy through and through.
The NFL will release a complete list of free agents following the deadline.
Sources: Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle, NFL.com, The Sports Xchange
This year's finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame were announced today. Of 15 candidates selected for the 2000 ballot, four played for the Raiders during their careers: DE Howie Long, TE Dave Casper, WR James Lofton, and S Ronnie Lott.
Long and Pittsburgh's Lynn Swann were included automatically because they finished in the top six in last year's balloting but fell short of the votes needed for induction.
Sources: Associated Press, Raiders.com
