Oakland Raiders - The Vertical Game

News Archive
Jan. 13 - Mar. 31, 2007

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Late update: It looks like CB Dré Bly will be staying put in Denver after all, and the Raiders will be looking at one tough tandem to throw against between Bly and Bailey. The Denver Donks agreed to terms Wednesday on a contract extension with Bly, obtained earlier this month from Detroit. Bly signed a 5-year deal for $33 million, with $16 million guaranteed up front, Denver television "insider" Vic Lombardi reported.

Bly had a year left on his contract when he was traded to Denver in exchange for running back Tatum Bell and offensive lineman George Foster. Only 29, he already has 33 career interceptions, the fourth most in the league since 1999. He has returned five picks for scores in his career.

At least the Raiders got good news when the NFL Management Council announced this year's compensatory selections. Remember, we lost Charles Woodson without getting a penny in return and had Renaldo Hill leave as well, who had proven to be more valuable as things turned out when Woodson milked his injury for all he could.

Oakland was awarded a third-rounder, No. 36, 99 overall—compensatories always come at the end of a given round, three through seven. And Oakland also received No. 44 in round seven, just one before Mr. Irrelevant.

The extra first-day pick is a plum! Coupled with the pick from New England for Doug Gabriel, the Raiders will have a total of ten picks this year in New York.

Bits and Pieces: Two weeks into OTAs now and things seem to be proceeding smoothly in Alameda, to some considerable extent because Rancid Moss has remained in Florida at least for now. Players cite a good vibe at the practice facility, probably because with all the young coaches—many of whom are working at the NFL level for the first time—there are a lot of enthusiastic "eager beavers" around.

After last season, there's nothing wrong with that . . .

The team's adding the odd player every couple of days, none of them blockbusters but hopefully all of them play an incremental part in increasing the depth and thus raising the competition level throughout the roster. In particular, tackle Cornell Green, signed yesterday, looks to have been a special teams regular in tours with Tampa Bay and Denver.

On the home front, we're keeping our fingers crossed that our cranky old computer will continue to run properly for the time being. We still haven't re-installed much beyond the software used in maintaining this site . . . not even a word processor yet, for example, let alone a serious office suite. We have the software, it's not that we lack it; but it seems our processor can't handle the scores of thousands of files required by such software as MS Office or the Macromedia behemoths. Did you know that Flash Professional alone installs over 120,000 files?

Anyway, we're glad for the quiet time before the coming draft storm. JaMarcus Russell will be visiting Alameda at some point before the draft weekend, and from that point on it will be a frenzy . . .

Monday, March 19, 2007

The Raiders signed defensive back Chris Johnson, a 6-foot, 200-pounder who was out of football in 2006 after being cut by Kansas City in pre-season. He's been assigned the No. 37 once worn by the great "Lester the Molester"—arguably our all-time favorite Raider.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Personnel moves: On Monday the Raiders re-signed unrestricted free agent T Chad Slaughter. It's a good move. He's not Jonathan Ogden, but they don't pay him a lot either, and he provides good depth. Considering that he came into the league as an undrafted free agent and washed out with both the Cowboys and the Jets before coming to Oakland, the Raiders have gotten an excellent return on the investment.

On Wednesday the team signed free agent safety B.J. Ward, 6-3 and 208. He played in 15 games with Baltimore in 2005, then was released off IR at the conclusion of the 2006 pre-season with an injury settlement when persistent migraines laid him low. (We can sympathize; we suffer them too, have for years.)

In the course of looking for info about Ward we came upon the redesigned Team section of the Raiders.com site. While we're not thrilled about the new site design overall—the pipe-like separators between panes remind us of the basement of a futuristic gym somewhere—there is better content on the players, and it's more accessible, judging by what we found for Ward.

Another nice feature of the new Raiders.com site is that the team is being much more fan-friendly so far as multimedia in the broadest sense is concerned. For example, our building in San Francisco is not wired for cable, and the owner, because of a past bad experience with cable in another property of his—he insists they did thousands of dollars worth of senseless damage and refused to make repairs—will not consider it. It's just never going to happen in this building, no matter how many petitions the tenants submit (there have been many). So it's nice to see that we can now watch episodes of "The Raiders Report" in a web browser and not be deprived of programs that in the past aired only on cable television.

And at the risk of ruffling the feathers of overpaid youngin's, we will point out that not everyone can afford cable, either. Especially if they're on a fixed income to start with and choose to spend for broadband computer access instead . . .

Getting back to the Raiders, they're also making a lot of the multimedia content available in the form of podcasts, which in theory anyone with a sound card in their computer can appreciate, even without a pricey MP3 player. Heck, we don't even have a sound card, only built-in sound on the motherboard; that's all that's needed to enjoy a lot of the content.

Now the bad news . . . the Raiders setup is pretty much iTunes-specific. And iTunes is bloatware—software that works, but in the process wants to expand, catalog every sound file anywhere on your computer, and generally waste many megabytes or even gigabytes of hard disk space. We have, personally, used iTunes in the past and then banished it because other music software, e.g., Rhapsody or MusicMatch or Yahoo Jukebox, did the same functions better. (There are numerous jukebox-type programs available, most of them free because they hope you'll buy music downloads.) In the coming weeks we'll be trying out the Raiders' features to see if the podcasts can't be enjoyed via software other than just iTunes. Stay tuned.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

We haven't attempted to keep up with the Randy Moss rumors in this space. For one thing we haven't the resources, truthfully, not while digging up all the article links that we do. But also, sites such as the Rumor Mill and the ANG's "Inside the Raiders" blog maintained by Jerry McDonald already do an able job of reporting and sifting through the different threads.

But let no one doubt for a minute our fervent desire to see Moss gone once and for all from Oakland. He is a profoundly negative influence in the locker room, a huge negative drain insofar as the salary cap is concerned, and an impediment to other, up-and-coming receivers getting necessary reps and playing time that they need to develop properly.

In the meantime, there is a touching article which appeared in yesterday's New York Times focusing on former NFL players now suffering dementia. Because both the league and the union refuse to recognize any causal link between the previous contact suffered by ex-players during their careers and their current dementia, the players' caregivers typically receive next to nothing to cover the catastrophically high costs of care for their charges.

The article focuses mostly on two men, Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey and his one-time teammate, ex-San Diego and Pittsburgh offensive lineman Ralph Wenzel. But also mentioned is Wayne Hawkins, an offensive lineman for the Raiders from 1960-69, who lives in Reno and "receives at-home care for his increasing dementia."

The New York Giants brought unrestricted free agent G Corey Hulsey in for a visit on Monday but did not make him an offer. Hulsey's agent, Bob Lattinville, said he expected his client would be visiting Detroit too in the near future.

Monday, March 12, 2007

We've just come across an article from March 9 in which Joe Theismann, whom the Rumor Mill's Mike Florio aptly calls Joey Sunshine, describes his vision of the perfect quarterback. He lists five essentials: intellect, heart, eyes, arm, and legs.

Take a look at his list of the top arms—you'll see a Raider there who'll come as a surprise, we guarantee it.

We don't mean to knock new special teams coordinator Brian Schneider just for the sake of knocking him. He has a great looking résumé—at the college level. But we'll second the observation that the ANG's Jerry McDonald has made, several times now, that Lane Kiffin's hires are enthusiastic precisely because so many of them are getting their first crack at coaching in the NFL. Case in point, Schneider.

Schneider wasn't Kiffin's first choice for the job, as Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan pretty much made obvious recently with an unwitting backhanded swipe at Schneider. Intending only to boost another coach's stock, Ryan extolled the virtues of Hawaii's D/C Ed Reinebold, who had been Kiffin's first choice for the Oakland position. But in so doing he gave Schneider less than a vote of full confidence. Check out this passage from a Honolulu paper:

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Free agent G-T Jordan Black, who had visited Alameda last week, signed with Houston.

(We had incorrectly said here initially that he was due to visit, but we subsequently read that he did in fact talk with the Raiders on March 8.)

Black ended up the 2006 season in Kansas City pressed into service as the replacement for retired LT Willie Roaf after the first candidate, Kyle Turley, got injured. Black gave up an NFL-worst 13 sacks and earned the nickname "I-65" from fans—a reference both to his jersey number and the fact that he was serving as a freeway to his quarterback. Despite that, Black is young, quite athletic, and by all accounts may be better suited to play guard than tackle. Thus, in the parlance, he has "upside" and did have some value as a free agent.

Raiders.com lists new acquisition Fred Wakefield's weight as 295, so we will defer to that, although the figure we had—319 pounds—came from NFL.com.

Making a second minor correction, Adam Schefter's characterization of Wakefield's blocking abilities was "superb" rather than "devastating" as we stated yesterday. Even better if it's accurate.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Late update: The Raiders hired Don Johnson to be the team's assistant defensive line coach, replacing the departed Taver Johnson in that capacity. (Don) Johnson spent the past two seasons with the Chicago Bears after five years as an assistant at UCLA.

Personnel moves: Yesterday was a big day for the Raiders as far as free agency goes, as they signed four players, all of whom could help improve the offense.

In the early morning RB Dominic Rhodes, who teamed with rookie Joseph Addai to give the world champion Colts a very good two-back rushing attack in 2006, signed a two-year deal worth a reported $7.5 million, including a $1M signing bonus and a base salary for 2007 of $1.5 million. Rhodes, a six-year veteran, actually has less wear than that on his body. He sat out the 2002 season with a ruptured ACL and had limited carries in the three following seasons as the backup to Edgerrin James. But in his rookie season, 2001, he set a league record for season yardage by an undrafted free agent running back with 1104 yards, averaging 4.7 yards per tote.

Rhodes is also an adequate receiver out of the backfield, although, as Jerry McDonald aptly put it, he won't remind anyone of Charlie Garner or Terry Kirby any time soon. Most important of all, hopefully, he brings a winning attitude to an offense that desperately needs an injection of positivity. One hopefully irrelevant observation: we were surprised at how small Rhodes is—he stands 5-9 and weighs 205. He plays bigger than that, which is what counts.

Later in the day Oakland signed FB Justin Griffith, at 25 already a four-year NFL veteran. Again we were surprised at his smallish size; he's listed at 5-11 and 232 pounds. Most current fullbacks in today's NFL—the few that are left, as they're a dying breed in many team's offenses—run 250 or 255 pounds, a la Lorenzo Neal or Ovie Mughelli. But again, if Griffith gets the job done, that's cool.

McDonald characterized Griffith as a "capable if not devastating" blocker. The coaching staff should certainly know what they've acquired with this fellow, since both offensive coordinator Greg Knapp and O-line coach Tom Cable saw him up close and personal last year in Atlanta. Griffith is also uniformly described as a good locker room influence, an athlete with character. The Raiders can always use more of that class of player to counter the Randy Moss and Jerry Porter types that Oakland's managing general partner seems always reluctant to send packing . . .

Lastly, NFL Network scoop artist Adam Schefter reported that the Raiders signed a pair of tight ends, each of them a six-year NFL vet. McDonald characterized Tony Stewart as a jack of all trades and opined that he'll "stick"—meaning that he'll make the opening day active roster. Stewart is 6-5 and weighs 258 and comes to Oakland after five seasons with the Bungles. He's not a major receiving target; his top year for receptions was 2003, when he caught 21, and last season he had 14 catches. But if he can hang on to the ball and block as well, he'll be an improvement over any of the four tight ends who were on last year's active roster. (We're omitting Derek Miller here; he is an unknown quantity as he was promoted from the practice squad the last week of the season and was inactive for the season finale against the Jets.)

Fred Wakefield is a blocker, period. At 6-7 and 319 pounds he's titanic, but he must also be athletic, because Arizona tried him at a variety of positions during his six seasons there. How many tight ends had a season with 2½ sacks, for instance? Wakefield actually played the defensive line for three seasons, as you can tell from his stats on NFL.com. Schefter called him a "devastating" blocker, which would be wonderful! McDonald seemed to think he's a fringe player. We'll see. It says here that if the guy can seriously block, our offense can use him.

Correction: We reported yesterday that Marques Tuiasosopo would be visiting Carolina. We later read that he visited the Panthers last Wednesday.

Tui's travels are generating something less than a firestorm of demand for his services . . .

Friday, March 9, 2007

Marques Tuiasosopo is scheduled to visit Carolina next. He's already been to see the Browns and the Jets but has come away without any offers . . .

There's a "Where Are They Now" article on Raghib "Rocket" Ismail on NFLPlayers.com. We missed it when it first appeared a week ago, as that's not a site we check regularly; but if you're interested in following up, here's the link: Raghib Ismail - Now And Forever 'The Rocket'.

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Late update: So now it seems that Dré Bly didn't expect to end up in Denver, only to pass through on his way to Washington, which has renegotiated contracts to clear the necessary cap room to sign Bly. And Washington has been looking to trade down, thinking Denver would be interested in its No. 6 first-round pick in the April draft . . .

[Digression alert!! This ought to seem like deja vu to long-time Raiders fans who know the score. We refer, of course, to the famous Jim Lachey deal. It pains us to see ignorant fans complaining to this day that Lachey for Jay Schroeder was the worst trade the Raiders ever made, when that wasn't the trade at all . . .

We've forgotten some of the details, but Lachey, a stud young tackle drafted by San Diego, was from the East Coast and wanted badly to get back there and play for a team closer to home. He was a Pro Bowler by about his second year in the league; that's how bright his future looked when the Raiders acquired him in a rare in-season trade. He remained a Raider all of one game, moving on to Washington after a week in what had been from the outset a two-stage, three-way deal. The Raiders ended up getting Shredder back from Washington. He was a cannon-armed but horribly inaccurate and generally forgettable quarterback—thus his nickname—but it was never a one-up trade, Lachey for Shredder. (No one would ever have given up Lachey for so little.) Al Davis was simply complying with stage two of a complex deal in which Lachey realized his wish to return to the East Coast to play.

The actual trade from the Raiders end of things would have been whoever went to San Diego (for Lachey) in return for Schroeder. Our addled brain no longer remembers who that was. (Reader input on this infamous piece of Raiders lore would be welcome; use the mail link at page bottom.)

What did Davis get out of it? In Schroeder, a cannon arm but fragile psyche who couldn't consistently play up to his billing. Lachey went on to have a good career with the Skins. Injury-prone, he nevertheless made the Pro Bowl a few times and had a solid resume when he retired. End of digression.]

So what's the fly in the ointment with the Bly deal? We don't know, and none of the articles we've seen has professed to have the solution. But we do hope Bly moves on, because paired with Champ Bailey he gives the Donks a pair of corners who would be mighty tough to throw on.

Where Are They Now Dept.: Ex-Raider MLB Danny Clark signed with Houston yesterday. And QB Marques Tuiasosopo was reported to have spent Tuesday at Browns headquarters in Ohio.

Lots of activity has been occurring in Alameda, but primarily concerned with making the team's fit under the 2007 salary cap a little more comfortable rather than spending what money the team has available to it—reportedly about $9 million at present.

You can see a summary of what's been happening on the Personnel Changes page. Bear in mind the obvious, that personnel executive Michael Lombardi has to be looking toward the draft as well as free agency in managing the team's overall cap situation.

The Raiders did sign two players, neither of them earthshaking deals. We knew C Jeremy Newberry was coming, and we've stated our views on his signing in this space previously. We have no quarrel with the contract he signed, however, since what he'll be paid is directly tied to how much playing time he accrues. So if his knees hold up, far out!

And if not, Oakland won't really have risked anything substantial.

The second player, Charlton Keith, was a defensive end in college and last year on Cleveland's practice squad, but is being listed as a linebacker by the Raiders. His draft profile from 2006 describes a very fast pass rusher with a thin torso at 6-4 and 235 to 240 pounds. That sounds to us like a lighter Bryant McNeal, who's still shown as a defensive end on Raiders.com. McNeal spent last season on the team's practice squad.

Now apparently the Raiders will have two such "tweeners" on the defensive side of the ball. (Not to mention tight ends Randal Williams, James Adkisson, and John Madsen playing on offense.) The Raiders always seem to think they can defy the odds in developing players of unconventional body types for various positions, but one may fairly question how often this strategy genuinely meets with success. Tight end Harvey Williams, anyone?

Sunday, March 4, 2007

As readers will no doubt have already seen, QB Jeff Garcia elected to sign with Tampon Bay, which not only had more money available but also could offer him a longer window in which he might be the team's starting quarterback. The common thinking is that new coach Lane Kiffin, with whom Garcia and his agent, Steve Baker met, wouldn't have been willing to commit to not wanting to draft JaMarcus Russell in April and to have whoever was the temporary starter serve as a mentor to Russell to bring him along.

Personally, we're pleased as punch (to quote the late windbag Hubert H. Humphrey). One good hit and Garcia's likely to follow Rich Gannon into the broadcast booth. In our view it would have been crazy to pay millions for a 37-year-old scrambler with a weak arm.

In internal moves, the team re-signed starter DL Tommy Kelly to a one-year contract for $1.85 million ($1.35M base salary, $500,000 signing bonus), guaranteeing Kelly a potential shot at becoming an unrestricted free agent at this time next year. CB Tyrone Poole was released, ostensibly to allow him the opportunity to try to land a starting job elsewhere but in reality recouping $2.25M in cap room. And restructuring of Barry Sims' contract was announced by the team. He agreed to extend his contract by two years—to 2011—and to forego the $4.53 million roster bonus which would have been due this month, in return getting a promise out of Kiffin that he'll return to the starter's role at left tackle. Robert Gallery will move to right tackle. New line coach Tom Cable will be expected to coax serious production out of projects Paul McQuistan at left guard, Kevin Boothe at right guard, and whoever ends up at center (nominally Jake Grove).

Speaking also of internal housekeeping, the Raiders have been working on extending Ronald Curry's contract to avoid his becoming an unrestricted free agent after this season. And finally, ANG writer Jerry McDonald noted—oh so accurately—that the price for Oakland working out a contract extension this season for CB Nnamdi Asomugha so that he doesn't reach the point (a la Langston Walker) where he can void year six on his rookie contract just skyrocketed thanks to that clueless team across the Bay. San Francisco only got out of Cap Purgatory about two years ago and it looks as though they're trying to find their way right back with the monstrous $80 million deal they gave Nate Clements, a good but by no means great corner . . .

Free agents to visit: TE Daniel Graham, ex-Patsy, this weekend, and ex-Whiner C Jeremy Newberry (aka Mr. Microfracture) on Monday.

Thursday, March 2, 2007

Denver has assembled the best pair of cover cornerbacks in the NFL, bar none, with its acquisition of Dré Bly to pair with Champ Bailey. Denver traded former starting tackle George Foster, RB Tatum Bell and a fifth-round draft pick to get Bly from Detroit.

Monday, February 26, 2007

The hire hasn't appeared on Raiders.com yet, nor has the name of Randy Hanson been added, although he was reported to be working at team HQ in Alameda at least 10 days ago. (We noted a St. Louis report of Hanson's hiring on Feb. 13.)

The NFL Network's Adam Schefter wrote yesterday that the Raiders are planning to move T Robert Gallery back to the right side and bring back Barry Sims at left tackle—something they should have done three weeks into the 2006 season. ANG writer Jerry McDonald also reported a few days back that the Raiders were working with Sims to restructure his contract. McDonald made reference to that process again today in his blog post.

Under his present deal Sims is due a $4.53 million roster bonus in March, and Sims had sounded off to the media late last year that Art Shell's decision to leave him on the bench after his abdominal strain had healed was based on considerations of money, not ability.

Schefter goes on to say that Jake Grove will remain at the pivot, with the guard spots manned by Paul McQuistan (left) and Kevin Boothe (right).

This is good news for Raiders fans. None of the present horses are of Pro Bowl pedigree, but Sims has been Oakland's best since the retirement of Lincoln Kennedy and Barrett Robbins. And Gallery simply failed to display the footwork needed on the left side, where the tackle is normally matched against an opponent's best edge rusher.

It doesn't mean that Oakland can't use help in the draft for its offensive line, or that the line shouldn't still be the top priority for the Raiders. But the position changes indicate that for now, Lane Kiffin is trying to make the best use of existing resources.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Late update: Where Are They Now Dept.: S Alvin Nnabuife had a good camp with the Raiders last year. The numbers were against him, of course—as they're against any undrafted rookie free agent making an NFL active roster—but he was in the running until an injury shelved him late in the pre-season. So it's discouraging to us to see him show up on an NFL Europe list as the property of Green Bay.

It's always seemed to us that the Raiders let a lot of talent slip away . . . Case in point: when Mike Reinfeldt was in the news so recently as he filled Tennessee's GM spot, we were reminded that he led the league one year with 12 interceptions. Sean Jones, sent packing in 1987 after the rancorous player strike was settled—he was the Raiders' player rep, which many felt was Al Davis' principal reason for trading him—went on to accumulate more than 100 QB sacks before retiring. NG LaRoi Glover still plays at a high level.

Getting back to NFL Europa, also appearing on the various assignment lists are WR Ryan Hoag, now with Washington; CB Dennis Davis (Seattle); TE Teyo Johnson (Denver); WR Cedric Bonner (Washington); and free agents T Jabari Levey, G C.J. Brooks, G Ben Sobieski, DE Javon Nanton, and WR Burl Toler. (Sobieski was ever so briefly on the Oakland practice squad, believe us.)

Unofficial 40-yard dash times run today at the Combine: RB Adrian Peterson, 4.38; RB Marshawn Lynch, 4.49 (second dash—first was 4.52); WR Calvin Johnson, 4.35.

Oh, and T Joe Thomas ran a 4.92 - 40. For a guy who's 6-6 and about 310 pounds that is other-worldly. In addition to being by far the highest rated offensive lineman, he was the third fastest!

Ohio State DT David Patterson said he talked with the Raiders. Remember that the Raiders are well known for seeming to ignore athletes in whom they're actually very much interested—disinformation at work.

NFL Europa news: The developmental league assigned the players allocated to it by NFL clubs to its six teams on Feb. 23. The assignments for the five Raiders allocatees are shown on the Personnel Changes page.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Snakebit? The Denver Broncos aren't exactly our favorite franchise, but they lost their second player in a span of less than two months today when reserve tailback Damien Nash collapsed and died tonight after an appearance in a charity basketball game in St. Louis. A two-year NFL veteran, Nash was only 24.

We'll commend to our readers a number of good blog posts available today from the ANG's Jerry McDonald, dated Feb. 22 through today.

McDonald's posts tend to appear late in the evenings; we typically look for them as late as 9:00 or 9:30 p.m. at night and don't see them, only to find them the next morning dated the previous calendar day.

In our humble estimation McDonald is about the best of the bunch so far as Raiders beat writers go. And we say that despite his writing off Ray Guy's prodigious career. (We're all entitled to an occasional blind spot . . .)

Friday, February 23, 2007

Miscellaneous prattling: We missed Chris Morris' birthday yesterday—he turned 24—but we'll be sure to flag the next one coming along. Seabass will celebrate a birthday a week from today, on March 2, the same day the race to the big bucks begins for this year's relatively small haul of unrestricted free agents.

Speaking of free agency, here's hoping the Raiders have been restructuring contracts in secret so as to squirrel away enough to make a compelling offer to restricted free agent QB Matt Schaub. (We hope we didn't jinx anything by saying that name. He will almost surely be available, though no doubt only for a pretty penny. Otherwise Atlanta would risk watching him walk away next year [as an unrestricted free agent] without getting anything in return.)

If we can't have Schaub we'll settle for G Eric Steinbach, who would do wonders for the Raiders interior line. We've accepted that with the offense the mess that it is, we really can't afford millions for LB Adalius Thomas.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Very late update: More on the question of C Jeremy Newberry and whether he may have something/anything to offer the Raiders:

Here's an article from the Akron Beacon-Journal about Kellen Winslow, Jr. of the Brownies, who underwent microfracture surgery on Jan. 30. The piece explains the procedure and mentions some athletes who've undergone it—some with good results, some not.

Remember in reading this that Newberry has had the procedure performed on both knees, and as pretty much a last ditch strategy after trying to play without any cartilage to speak of proved too painful to bear. And bear in mind too that nearly all the other athletes mentioned who underwent the surgery carried far less than 300 or so pounds on their joints.

The big piece of news is the Aaron Brooks item, of course, but can anyone say he or she's surprised? He just wasn't worth the $5 million, plain and simple, that would have been due in the form of a March 7 roster bonus. At least Andrew Walter has an upside; he actually played better statistically than did SF's Alex Smith during Smith's first year. That's not to say Walter is clearly the savior that he seemed before the 2006 campaign. We'd say it's more accurate now to say that the jury's still out.

(One suspects that Walter wasn't getting exactly inspired coaching from Jim McElwain. He needed to have it hammered into his head that NFL quarterbacks don't have four or five seconds to hold the ball if they don't see an open outlet. That urgent teaching never seemed to be forthcoming from McElwain, judging by Walter's proclivity for taking sacks. And McElwain's name has disappeared from the list of coaches on Raiders.com even though no successor has been named. Credit reader Gerald Hibbard for bringing that change to our attention.)

Getting back to Brooks, coach Lane Kiffin had some comments—largely noncommittal, actually—on the decision, which you'll find in Phil Barber's blog post in today's Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Where Are They Now Dept.: One-time Raider quarterback Wade Wilson was named to coach that position group for the Cowgirls. He coached the QBs for Da Bears (including Rex Grossman) the past three seasons.

His best moment as a Raider came in a home game against San Diego. On a dismally gray day, the Raiders and Dolts were waging a defensive battle in which neither team had come close to scoring. Then, late in the fourth quarter, Wilson aired it out for WR James Jett on a post pattern. Jett outran the defense, hauled it in, and scored to win the game, 7-0.

We had a video clip of the play, in *.mov format—that's QuickTime, but is playable by a number of different file viewers—but sadly, we've just discovered that it has become corrupted and is no longer viewable. What a pity! It was fun to watch (over and over and over . . .

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Birthday watch: It pales in significance to the story which follows, but a real bulwark of the Raiders defense, MLB Kirk Morrison, celebrates his 25th birthday on Monday. Here's a link if you care to send him a birthday wish via the nflplayers.com site.

We were shocked to read last night in a Milwaukee paper that Sean Jones, reportedly No. 2 in the Raiders personnel department behind senior exec Michael Lombardi, was recently fired. The report cites as its source an unnamed official with an AFC West team. Evaluating the prospects of the Pack trading for WR Randy Moss, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel said such a deal appeared highly unlikely because, among other things, the Raiders personnel structure is currently "almost directionless" with the trading period less than two weeks away. (The other reason stated which militates against Green Bay trading for Moss is GB general manager Ted Thompson's oft-stated dislike of spending big bucks in free agency.)

Jones, a one-time player agent as well as a former Raiders player (1984-87) who tallied more than 100 quarterback sacks in a distinguished NFL career, played a major role in contract negotiation as well as pro scouting, said the paper.

A wire report in today's ANG papers repeats that Jones is gone, although it says he chose to leave rather than wait for a chance to move up the ladder if and when Lombardi moved on. The spin differs, but in either case an experienced personnel person is absent with the combine at hand and the trading period and free agency right behind, while the man at the top of the personnel dept. has meanwhile been rumored to be either on his way out or seeking greener pastures. Not comforting . . .

Admitting up front that "nobody's talking," the ANG's Jerry McDonald nevertheless speculates on the situation in a blog post published late last evening.

It didn't take fired running backs coach Skip Peete long to land another job, and with a winning franchise at that. The Dallas team web site announced Peete's hiring on Thursday.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Late update: ESPN.com's John Clayton published salary cap figures yesterday for all 32 teams which he claimed were accurate as of Feb. 9. According to him Oakland had $6.2 million in cap space.

Contrast ProFootballTalk.com's figure of $8 million as of the following day, Feb.10. Take your pick—really only the Raiders and the NFL Management Council (which tracks the different teams' contracts) know for sure. The latter organization, representing the league, is the ultimate authority in salary cap matters.

A St. Louis paper, reporting on coaching staff moves by Rams boss Scott Linehan, says ex-Rams assistant Randy Hanson will be joining the staff of Oakland's Lane Kiffin—soon enough, apparently, that Linehan had to hire a replacement today.

Hanson had been a quality control assistant for the Rams offense, but according to the report, he'd be coming to work for Kiffin as an assistant secondary coach under Darren Perry.

Where Are They Now Dept.: LB Timi Wusu, who made it through training camp and to the first of the pre-season roster cuts last year before going on IR with a groin injury, agreed to terms on a two-year reserve/future free agent contract with Kansas City Monday.

That's too bad. The Raiders liked Wusu, a Stanford grad who had a very good camp in 2006 but was also covering his bases by planning on attending medical school if and when the NFL possibilities dried up.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Gilmore withdraws: It turns out that reports that Ted Gilmore, Nebraska's receivers coach, had been offered the Raiders receivers coaching job were entirely accurate. Oakland coach Lane Kiffin confirmed it in a phone interview early this afternoon with the Lincoln [NE] Journal Star. What's more, Gilmore had accepted the job on Saturday.

Kiffin told the paper he had hired Gilmore after interviewing eleven other candidates. (Busy guy, huh?) Kiffin said Oakland needs a strong presence at wide receivers coach—no kidding!—in part because of the personnel at the position, most notably nine-year veteran Randy Moss, who is notorious for his on- and off-field issues.

Kiffin did display some insight in his telephone comments. "Confidence and knowledge is how you win over people," Kiffin said. "You don't B.S. them; you make them better. Ted can do that." 99 times out of a hundred that would probably hold true. But we'll play the cynic here and observe that Moss might just be that 1 in 100 who's beyond salvage . . .

At any rate, Gilmore couldn't pull the trigger on actually leaving. Or, as the Nebraska paper put it, "Turns out, Gilmore will be helping players improve at Nebraska instead of Oakland."

Kiffin phoned the Journal Star again early Sunday evening (Central time) to update Gilmore's situation.

"I have no problem with (Gilmore's change of heart)," Kiffin said. "I totally understand everything that goes into these decisions."

More details can be found in the pair of articles dated today from the Journal Star in the Articles section.

Raidernews.com, which had the Darren Perry hiring report correct several days before it surfaced elsewhere, is reporting "unconfirmed" reports that Brian Schneider has been hired as special teams coordinator. This prompts us to catch up on the names of some candidates who've been rumored to be (possibly) in the mix for jobs on new coach Lane Kiffin's still-burgeoning staff.

One of several positions yet to be filled, and arguably the most important given the extent of the breakdowns last year, the special teams opening has had several applicants according to media reports. Last Wednesday, according to a report in the Honolulu Advertiser, University of Hawaii defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold, 47, either turned down an offer to become Oakland's special teams coordinator or took himself out of the running.

The Oakland Tribune, meanwhile, reported this past week that two other candidates met with Kiffin recently. Brian Schneider, 35, recently hired to coach special teams and tight ends at Air Force after spending the 2006 season at Iowa State, interviewed for the special teams job. Like new offensive line coach Tom Cable and his assistant, Kelly Skipper, Schneider was a member of the UCLA staff (2003-05) that coached against Kiffin when he was at USC. At UCLA Schneider coached linebackers, safeties and special teams.

And, then, former College of San Mateo coach Tom Martinez talked to Kiffin about the position of quarterbacks coach. Jim McElwain currently holds the job but would seem to have little or no job security.

Martinez retired from coaching in 2005 because of health concerns. He has been praised for his consulting work with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and was recently hired to work with LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell - potentially the Raiders' choice as No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft - in Arizona. It's thought that Martinez is highly hesitant to accept a full-time coaching position again.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Late update: The Rumor Mill comes through again, this time with current salary cap room numbers for the 32 NFL teams.

You may have seen the same bandied about over the last two or three weeks—we ourselves linked to an article on Jan. 26 with what purported to be the accurate figures. (At that point the Raiders were shown as having $14.1 million of room, which ranked 22nd of the 32 teams.) The Scout.com network also wants to sell (as in by subscription) figures which it published yesterday.

All that said, we think that Mike Florio has the contacts to get good info. And when he's shown to be wrong or inaccurate, he corrects himself—as he has with the figures today, in some minor respects (none affecting the Oakland figure). Florio's figures show Oakland with $8 million of current cap room.

(Point of comparison: In a league-wide review dated Feb. 9, ESPN.com's John Clayton wrote that Oakland has $6.2 million of cap room.)

Start with the first link below. Then click on the second and scroll up to see his corrections posted later in time today.

Also courtesy of the Rumor Mill, here's a Kansas City Star breakdown of the Squaws' salary cap situation and free agents for those readers who may be interested: Chiefs' salary-cap breakdown. KC has only about $5M of cap room, and Denver even less, by the way; among AFC West teams, only the Dolts (with a hefty $22M) have more room to play with than Oakland.

Burgess shines: If you saw the Pro Bowl you probably saw the first half play on which NFC QB Marc Bulger, doing his best imitation of a 2006 Raiders quarterback, let the ball simply slip out of his hand without being touched. The AFC's Adalius Thomas picked it up and ran it about 70 yards (give or take) the other way for a touchdown.

You may not have noticed—the team in the broadcast booth certainly didn't—but the defender who rattled Bulger into his fumble was none other than the Silver and Black's DE Derrick Burgess, rushing Bulger from the right end instead of his usual spot on the left. Although he didn't actually quite touch Bulger, he got close enough to panic the Lambs QB into his costly miscue. Way to go, Derrick!

Next year we'll have more representatives there, you know we will. By all rights both CB Nnamdi Asomugha and DT Warren Sapp deserved invitations this year.

Yesterday in this space we posted the cost of a 2007 franchise tag for the various position groups. These figures are calculated and released by the players' union each year. Today we've found the full set, both franchise and transition costs, so here they are.

Friday, February 9, 2007

We came across the most detailed account yet of the deliberations that took place in Miami in the Hall of Fame selection process the day preceding the Super Bowl, in Ira Miller's blog posted on his web site. Here's the link: Ira Miller's Blog.

Between Miller's post and Paul Zimmerman's comments on SI.com, readers can get a pretty good idea of how things went generally. We still don't know, of course, specifically who did and didn't support Ray Guy.

As our Java—or, depending on which version of the site's main page you access, JavaScript—banners point out today, the NFL window for teams to designate franchise or transitional players opened yesterday, and will close on Feb. 22. This is unlikely to be an issue for the Raiders, but it brings into sharper focus the beginning of free agency on March 2, only three weeks away.

The Raiders' priority free agent would seem to be DT Terdell Sands, who is an unrestricted free agent. Last year, as a restricted free agent, he was signed to a one-year deal for $721,600. While Sands has never been a starter for the Silver and Black, he is nevertheless a big time run stopper and began to develop some as a pass rusher to boot in 2006. Oakland will definitely want to retain Sands, but we doubt the team would go so far as to slap a transition tag on a non-starter.

Also signed last year to a one-year contract, for $600,000, was LB-DE Grant Irons. He's also an unrestricted free agent.

With one year's less experience than Sands and Irons, DT Tommy Kelly is a restricted free agent. Signed by the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State, Oakland has a right of first refusal as to Kelly. The Raiders will definitely want to hang on to him too.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

We should add our $.02 about C Jeremy Newberry since he is talking up his availability and desire to join the Raiders. We have some familiarity with his history inasmuch as we live in San Francisco.

Newberry has virtually no cartilage left in either knee. The microfracture surgery, which he's undergone on each knee, is a last resort procedure to try to induce the bone into generating some growth, with the aim of simulating cartilage by providing some lubricating or softening effect from the dreaded "bone on bone" condition we've all read about. But the chances of microfracture surgery 'restoring' the knee joints on a 305-pound man to a point where they can take 16 games of repeated full contact are slim and none.

At 6-5, 305, Newberry is an inch taller than Jake Grove and only five pounds heavier, so even in a best case scenario, if he could play an entire season, he'd be no stronger than Grove, whom critics have taken to characterizing as undersized. Recall that San Francisco in years past typically favored smaller, faster, more athletic linemen—typical of teams which run the West Coast offense.

More coaches canned: Out: running backs coach Skip Peete (after nine years), and assistant defensive line coach Darryl Sims (who had been asked to re-interview). Hired: Tom Rathman, as rumored previously, to coach the running backs; and relative unknown Taver Johnson, to replace Sims as an assistant to DL coach Keith Millard.

Still vacant (assuming the usual coaching slots found on a pro team): wide receivers, tight ends, probably an offensive quality control guy (fancy name for a video guy). And, oh yeah, how about special teams? It's a puzzle to us why no one is even mentioning special teams . . . It's an area in need of almost as much improvement as the offense.

Anyway, we can't imagine that Jim McElwain is feeling too secure these days.

From a "Whispers" column appearing yesterday on the Pro Football Weekly web site:

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Late update: We could have saved ourselves some typing yesterday, speculating as we did on Irv Eatman's status as an assistant coach. He's gone, replaced by Kelly Skipper, as Lane Kiffin does an almost complete purge of assistants on the offensive side. We're surprised that Skip Peete and Jim McElwain are even still listed as coaches on the web site, but then, two prospects for coaching the Raiders quarterbacks appear to have said no to Kiffin already, and maybe Rathman's been less than enthusiastic as well . . .

We came upon an interesting site just now, reminiscent of the "dump Shoop"-type sites that sprang up in Chicago back when John Shoop was the O/C of Da Bears. This one is www.DumpDorrell.com, apparently dedicated to singing the negative praises of UCLA coach Karl Dorrell. It mentions Jay Norvell, Bill Callahan's one-time protege here in Oakland and then at Nebraska, who just became UCLA's offensive coordinator, calling him "Training Jay" Norvell. Cute, huh?

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Late update: Here are links to all the articles we've come across (and that we can recall) giving details about how the voting went in last Saturday's (Feb. 3) Pro Football Hall of Fame selection meeting:

The ANG's Jerry McDonald reports in a blog post today that we can expect to see one-time 49er and (Los Angeles) Raider FB Tom Rathman coming on the Oakland coaching staff as a running backs coach. Rathman in his day was a multidimensional player who blocked and ran well (and also had good hands) and might develop the blocking aspect of the Raiders backfield game better than has Skip Peete heretofore.

McDonald also cites the Los Angeles Times as reporting that Yogi Roth, whom we belittled just a few minutes ago, has chosen to remain at USC. Aw, shucks!

Another piece of the coaching staff puzzle is in place today after Tom Cable finally accepted new coach Lane Kiffin's offer to coach the offensive line. Reports surfaced several days before the Senior Bowl—which was played on Jan. 27—that Kiffin had asked both Cable and Greg Knapp to join his staff. Our $.02 may not count for much, but we're less than thrilled by the less than prompt decisions of Knapp and especially Cable in accepting the Raiders' offers. If they were that brilliant we question whether they'd have been unemployed to begin with . . .

It must send a crappy message also to those coaches on the offensive side who are still under contract. Irv Eatman, for instance, is still listed on Raiders.com as "co-offensive line," but clearly he will now be an assistant to Cable. Unlike Jackie Slater, who had no previous coaching experience at any level, Eatman has been an assistant OL coach with three other NFL teams and was not among the group who were summarily told by Kiffin that they were free to look for other work, so presumably Eatman's abilities are more substantial. Quarterbacks coach Jim McElwain remains listed on the web site even as the team brought in Clemson offensive coordinator Rob Spence to interview for his job. Geez! You don't exactly think of job security these days when you say "Oakland Raiders."

As for Kiffin's new hires, at least new DBs coach Darren Perry, when offered a position, had the courtesy to say quickly that he was inclined toward accepting and then to reach a decision within several days. But with that one major exception, to us the process of recruiting all these new assistants to work under Kiffin has seemed amateurish all the way around, with a resounding lack of pride or poise by the team or by the new hires.

And there are still holes needing to be filled: tight ends and wide receivers, special teams . . . No, please don't tell us Yogi Roth is going to coach the receivers; according to the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, he was a glorified video assistant at USC.

Where Are They Now Dept.: Former Oakland and San Diego linebacker-DE Akbar Gbaja-Biamila was among seven free agents signed by Miami.

Gbaja-Biamila, the brother of Green Bay's Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, had one tackle in three games with the Chargers this season after spending the last three years with the Raiders.

O ye of little faith: Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which advises Nevada sports books on their betting lines, has installed the San Diego Chargers as the early 9-2 favorites to win next year's Super Bowl after posting an NFL-best 14-2 regular-season record in 2006.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com, one of the 40 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, coughed up a few more details yesterday about what transpired during Saturday's meeting.

It seems that his highness Paul Tagliabue, the departed Commissioner, merited 57 minutes of discussion in the six-hours-plus meeting. He was ultimately eliminated in the first round, but his supporters certainly can't say they didn't get a chance to say their peace.

We also came across some comments by Paul Zimmerman (aka Dr. Z), another long-time voter, which appeared on Saturday after the meeting (see Articles Archive for Feb. 3). Zimmerman's take is worth reading for his cataloging of (his view of) the great cornerbacks in NFL history.

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Jerry McDonald wrote in his recent blog post about Fred Biletnikoff's retirement that he suspected Biletnikoff was less than pleased with what was described as Al Davis' "brutal" treatment—McDonald's word—of deposed coach Art Shell when he fired him at season's end.

We've just come across another source, a Pro Football Weekly "Whispers" report dated Jan. 18, that implied basically the same thing almost two weeks earlier. We've added it to the Articles Archive under that date, but here's a direct link to the comment.

For what it's worth, Scout.com also said on its site recently that Freddie B's retirement had been rumored for several weeks.

Source(s): "Inside the Oakland Raiders" blog (ANG), Pro Football Weekly, raiders.scout.com

Saturday, February 3, 2007

Late update: How the voting went: The Hall of Fame selectors first pared the list from 17 names down to a list of eleven, then down to six. Another vote was then taken and all six were selected for induction.

ESPN Insider reports former Steelers secondary coach Darren Perry has been offered a two-year contract to coach the Raiders' secondary. He's leaning toward taking the job, but nothing is official.

By the way, in the media fuss generated on Feb. 1 by Mike Ditka, Jerry Kramer, and others over the plight of, largely, pre-1977 NFL veterans and the pitiful pension benefits they receive . . . Recall that both Harry Carson and Rayfield Wright raised this same issue last July in their enshrinement speeches at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Anyway, in the latest round of righteous indignation by Ditka & Co., only once did we see the URL printed for the site where the Gridiron Greats auction was being held to raise money. Most articles covering the issue, to our utter amazement, don't even point readers to where they could go to help were they so inclined.

That site is www.JerryKramer.com. And if you're fortunate enough to be in a position where you could participate in the auction or help out in some other way, we think it would be a kind deed indeed!

It's easy to participate; as an opening video from Mike Ditka explains, you just offer to buy a collectible of some kind for a little bit more than you might otherwise pay for it, knowing that the difference is going to a fund helping out older NFL veterans.

Oh, and did we mention there's a Flashback feature there on that site, featuring the 1968 Super Bowl (SBII)? Yes, it's the one Super Bowl we Raiders fans like to forget, the drubbing in Miami at the hands of Vince Lombardi's dynasty . . . What's more, it turns out that there is audio preserved of Lombardi's locker room speech, because Kramer—then in the process of writing his book, Instant Replay, had smuggled a tape recorder into the locker room. Many reasons to visit the site!

(Instant Replay, long out of print, has been reprinted and can be purchased in an attractive sounding bundle along with a two-CD set of audio tapes from 1967-68. We'd purchase it, frankly, if we had the dough.

)

We should be clear before readers go charging off to visit jerrykramer.com—most of the items such as the Lombardi tapes are naturally for sale as Kramer puts the proceeds into a fund to benefit the players. And the focus of the Super Bowl II material is entirely on Green Bay, of course. There may be references to the Raiders, collectively or individually, among Lombardi's pre- or post-game speeches but we don't know that. What it is is a locker room before and after the big game, in which no one but Kramer knew the tape recorder was there. So it's interesting historically—both Lombardi and Kramer retired after that game.

The results are in, and once again the Selection Committee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame overlooked Ray Guy.

We have no quarrel with most of this year's selections. OL Bruce Matthews played 19 years, all of them at a very high level, at center, guard and tackle, and never missed a game due to injury! Roger Wehrli was a great cornerback for the old St. Louis Cardinals, and RB Thurman Thomas was the AFC's best all-purpose running back for a long string of years. Veterans' committee candidates TE Charlie Sanders and G Gene Hickerson are both deserving, among the very best to ever play their positions.

But Michael Irvin? Where do you start? The felony cocaine possession? Not to mention a second cocaine episode, when charges were eventually dropped. The stats that are substantially inferior in most respects to contemporaries of Irvin such as Art Monk and Andre Reed? Irvin's legendary tactics pushing off defensive backs?

Where Are They Now Dept.: "Big Play Ray"—Ray Buchanan—who played cornerback for Indy and Atlanta, then free safety for the Raiders in his final season (2004), was arrested Thursday at the Miami airport on three counts of writing checks without sufficient funds from Nevada, a Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said. Buchanan was arrested around 9 a.m. when he arrived on an international flight. He posted a bond of $165,125.

Buchanan, 35, was in town to work Sunday at the Super Bowl as a reporter for Fox Sports Radio.

Friday, February 2, 2007

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Oakland's Lombardi Trophies: 1977, 1981, 1984

Want to own a genuine 1977 Lombardi Player Trophy? Yeah, that's right, the Super Bowl Trophy . . . It ain't cheap, but then, you wouldn't expect it would be, would you?

We've been contacted by Snappy Auctions of Folsom, CA, which is helping the present owner offer it on E-bay. You can find full details on Ebay, right here . . .

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Where Are They Now Dept.: One-time Raiders strength and conditioning guru Garrett Giemont was hired in the same capacity by the Steelers.

This Saturday morning the 40 selectors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame (aka the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee) will pare the list of seventeen finalists down to six finalists, then pick from three to all six of those for induction into the Hall.

From all that I've read over the years—and SI.com's Paul Zimmerman is probably the freest with dispensing the "inner lore" of the arcane, convoluted procedure that's followed in HOF selections—a lot of politicking and arm-twisting goes on between fellow selectors inside the room in the Super Bowl location for that year.

We doubt that anything we can say here (even if we could urge a passel of Raiders fans to contact the selectors) would change opinions at this late date. And the selectors tend to be old geezers with hardened views, just as we are. Zimmerman, for example, has flatly said he won't vote for a full-time punter.

One would hope that selectors who saw—or, better yet, personally covered—Ray Guy during his career would understand that he was an offensive weapon as well as a superb special teams asset. Games are often won and lost on field position, and Guy invariably gave his teams a huge advantage over their opponents.

If you want to express your $.02 to a selector before Saturday, we suggest e-mailing Ira Miller. To avoid setting him up for spam, rather than include that e-mail address here we'll just point you to the very bottom of the main page of his web site at http://ira.mysportspage.com/viewblog.php. He's independent (retired from the San Francisco Chronicle), he saw Guy firsthand during his career, and he might even sway some other men's opinions in Miami (the word last July was that he had helped to lead the campaign for John Madden's induction).

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Ted Daisher, whose special teams units were atrocious in their coverage phases in 2006, bolted the Raiders organization today, accepting the same position with the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland had the opening only because its special teams coach himself moved on to greener pastures, thus creating the vacancy.

You remember Daisher . . . He's the coach who had the freakout on the sidelines during a game this year. No matter how bad things got—and they got really bad—at least it could be said of Shell, Walsh, Shoop and Ryan that they kept their wits about them. Not Daisher . . . And his meltdown didn't come in just any old game; it occurred at an absolutely critical juncture so far as momentum was concerned, in the home game at Houston. For several months prior that home date against the Texans had been pegged by the media as the team's best/last chance to win a game, remember? (Going back to the early going when writers questioned whether the Raiders could even win a game.) The loss to Houston left the Raiders staring at the likelihood of losing out for the remainder of its season.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

The two USC names who were reported yesterday to be coming to join Lane Kiffin in Oakland (search below for Los Angeles Times if you've forgotten) duly surfaced in Bay Area news reports today.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that Mark Jackson will accept an as-yet-unnamed position with the Raiders, expected to be titled director of football development, in which capacity he will "provide support" to Kiffin. And Yogi Roth, who assisted Kiffin with wide receivers in Los Angeles—in addition to serving as offensive coordinator and overseeing the recruiting, Kiffin coached the receivers at USC—was weighing a pair of offers. According to the (Scranton, PA) Times-Tribune, late Friday, USC offered Roth a position to remain with the Trojans. Kiffin, meanwhile, asked him to be an assistant wide receivers coach with the Raiders. While Roth said he was mulling both options, it sounded pretty evident that he was favoring the latter.

"Lane came to me obviously when he got the job, and he gave me the formal offer," said Roth. "He is such a good guy to work for. It's the most unique situation in the world. It's great and exciting. I'm fired up."

Correction: We reported here during this past week that new Raider Dave Tollefson is a Northern Californian, hailing from Walnut Creek, CA, in the Sacramento area. D'oh!! He's from NoCal, all right, but the immediate San Francisco Bay Area—Walnut Creek's in the East Bay, to be precise, only about fifteen miles or so from Oakland.

USC coach Pete Carroll's recent comment that LSU QB JaMarcus Russell would be better suited to the Raiders and to Lane Kiffin's offensive ideas than Notre Dame's Brady Quinn has gotten a lot of exposure. But Carroll had more to say on the occasion, when he addressed a gathering of USC alumni in Santa Barbara, CA. He talked about Kiffin's background and development and also about the pressures he'll face as a head coach in the professional game.

Salary cap room: According to Stephen F. Holder, writing in the St. Petersburg [FL] Times (aka TampaBay.com), the Raiders currently have $14.1 million available, ranking them 22nd of the 32 NFL teams.

39-year-old ex-WR Andre Rison, appearing as a guest on Fox Sports Radio, hinted that he might try an NFL comeback but said he couldn't say any more than that. "There is something in the works, but I can't give you a hint," Rison said. He later claimed he would "more than likely" make any comeback attempt with the Raiders . . .

Friday, January 26, 2007

As is often the case these days, the best summary of where the Raiders' coaching search stood through last night can be found in Jerry McDonald's ANG blog post, which customarily appears in the evening. See the top few (latest) links in the Articles section for Jan. 25.

Today's Los Angeles Times has an article in which USC quarterback John David Booty says he's glad that Steve Sarkisian is returning but will miss Lane Kiffin. The article mentions two people connected with USC who have agreed to join Kiffin with the Raiders.

Graduate assistant Yogi Roth accepted a position yesterday as an offensive assistant on Kiffin's staff. "I've had a great experience and learned a lot here the last two years, and I'm looking forward to another great opportunity," said Roth.

Also, Mark Jackson, who was USC's director of football operations from 2001-2004, has joined the Raiders' organization, according to several sources.

Source(s): "Inside the Oakland Raiders" (InsideBayArea.com), Los Angeles Times

RealFootball365.com's Raiders article today calls DE Dave Tollefson, signed this week by the Raiders, a potential "diamond in the rough" and makes it sound like the Silver and Black got the steal of the off-season.

It might yet work out that way, but it appears Green Bay let Tollefson go because he's been injury prone for a number of years. The Packers could, after all, simply have offered Tollefson a contract earlier this month just as Oakland did to its 2006 practice squad members when their old contracts expired.

A knowledgeable fan, in a post in a forum on PackerNews.com, noted that the Packers re-signed all the rest of last year's practice squad but obviously gave up on Tollefson. It turns out the thin-cut pass rusher spent seven years in and out of college—explaining why he'll turn 26 in May—largely because of injuries to his shoulder and foot, and now his back is an issue. So he hasn't been able to stay healthy.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

The ANG's Jerry McDonald reports that new Raiders coach Lane Kiffin was spotted in Mobile during his first full day on the job—his first day "in the field," that is—huddling with currently unemployed offensive coordinator Greg Knapp in Mobile, AL, where Kiffin is looking for coaches during Senior Bowl week.

Kiffin has said he will call the plays himself from the sideline during games but wants an offensive coordinator nevertheless to design practices and for administrative support. In Kiffin's words, "We're going to have an offensive coordinator to assist me in daily plans and activities, but I'll call the plays for us to make sure that my name's on this franchise and my name's on this team and my name's on this offense."

Knapp actually interviewed for the Raiders top job in 2004, before Norv Turner was hired, but then accepted the O/C position in Atlanta under then-new Falcons head coach Jim Mora, Jr. before Turner was selected by the Raiders. Knapp also coached in San Francisco for nine years, including running that offense as offensive coordinator for the final three years there. Whether he'd be a good fit for Oakland is open to question, since Knapp's expertise is the West Coast offense, and the preference of managing owner Al Davis for a longer passing game is well documented.

Where Are They Now Dept.: Ex-Raiders coach Norv Turner, currently the San Francisco offensive coordinator, has received permission from his bosses to interview with Dallas for the vacant Cowgirls head coaching position.

The defensive end, Dave Tollefson, is a Northern California native, hailing from Walnut Creek in the Sacramento area. He played his college ball at Northwest Missouri State and was drafted in the seventh round in 2006 by Green Bay. He was released by the Pack in the final pre-season roster cutdown on Sept. 3, 2006, then signed to their practice squad, where he finished the year injured. He stands 6-4 and is variously listed at 255 to 263.

WR Rich Parson, from Maryland, is a wide receiver-returner who was signed by Washington as an undrafted free agent back in 2005. He spent the first ten weeks or so of that season on that team's practice squad, then was signed to the active roster on Nov. 18, 2005. Two days later, he got his only NFL game experience, returning three kickoffs for the Foreskins against Oakland in a game which the Raiders "won for Norv Turner," 16-13. (It was, ironically, the last game Oakland would win that season, as well as the last action Parson would see in the NFL until at least 2007. He was released by Washington the day after the game.

Parson appears to have been out of football in 2006, and he'll turn 27 in May. He's 5-10, 183 pounds.

The last of the three signees, WR Lauren Williams, is variously listed at either 6-2 or 6-3 and 185 lbs. He played his college ball at Liberty University. I was unable to find any photo or record of him signing with any professional team. He is Parson's age—just a few months short of 27—and calls Upper Marlboro, MD his home town.

With NFL Europe League (NFLEL) allocations not far off, NFL teams will be beating the bushes signing lots of raw prospects during the next several weeks.

Hmmm . . . It seems that the NFL, in its infinite wisdom and after yet another year of financial instability in its European league, has renamed the glorified farm system again. NFL Europe, aka NFLEL, is now known as NFL Europa. Well, Eureka!

Source(s): Pro Football Weekly, Gerald Hibbard, SI.com, NFL.com, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN.com, www.nfleurope.com

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Former Raider great T Lincoln Kennedy, 34, has signed to play for the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League. Kennedy, nicknamed the "Oval Office," went to the Pro Bowl three times.

Monday, January 22, 2007

BenMaller.com, the rumor mill, is claiming Oakland wants to trade for Falcons QB Michael Vick. "The Raiders package would include receivers Randy Moss and Jerry Porter plus the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft for Vick and the Falcons first round pick (10th overall)." The report cites "NFL sources," which means absolutely nothing.

Now the Raiders are apparently going whole hog for 31-year-old Lane Kiffin to accept their head coaching opening. He was reportedly due to return to Alameda Sunday night for a second interview but sources said it couldn't be confirmed if he made it in. If not, presumably that interview would occur today.

Like Sarkisian, Kiffin has no head coaching experience at any level. He does at least have a good deal of play-calling experience, which Al Davis has said he wants in his next coach. Art Shell's staff was conspicuously lacking in play-calling ability and it showed big time. When it came time to replace Tom Walsh there was, essentially, only John Shoop as an alternative—the man who'd been ridiculed in Chicago as typically calling a 5-yard screen pass on 3rd-and-15.

Getting back to Kiffin, it's hard to believe that his boss, Pete Carroll, won't dangle incentives for Kiffin to stay at Southern Cal the same way Carroll did for Sarkisian. And one has to suspect that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will similarly do his best to persuade his 30-year-old offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, to stay put in New England. So—and assuming that Davis feels Rob Ryan is most effective left right where he is, running the defense—the Raiders aren't necessarily out of the woods yet.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Where Are They Now Dept., part 1: Bob Casullo, the wildly excitable but largely ineffective special teams coach for the Raiders from 2001-04, was hired by Chucky to serve as Tampa Bay's tight ends coach. After leaving Oakland Casullo coached Seattle's special teams the past two seasons.

Where Are They Now Dept., part 2: Ex-Raider MLB Danny Clark, now a reserve player with New Orleans, was served papers in a paternity lawsuit involving a Chicago-area woman after the Saints arrived at their hotel for Sunday's NFC championship game.

Clark was served by a private investigator while getting into an SUV outside the team's downtown hotel Saturday night. Not surprisingly, he wasn't immediately available for comment before the game.

Adam Schefter, of the NFL Network, who specializes in investigative "scoops" which may or may not be 100% accurate, wrote yesterday in a column on the current NFL 'coaching carousel' that the Raiders reportedly offered USC assistant head coach Steve Sarkisian a multi-year contract to become the team's next head coach. The deal averaged $2 million per season, said Schefter, but Sarkisian turned down the team. He felt he was not ready to become an NFL head coach, but insiders believe Sarkisian was scared off more by control issues than financial issues.

For what it's worth, the Raiders have more or less officially dissed Schefter because he came to his current job from the Denver Post and, according to the Oakland organization, continues to be cozy with Donk head coach Ratface Mike Shanahan. But Schefter is probably on the money most of the time, just as ESPN is—rumor specialists don't stay in business too long unless they're generally accurate. Recall that it was Schefter who first forecast Art Shell's firing, although when Schefter ran his story (on Dec. 22, with two games remaining) he did couch it in the language of possibility rather than certainty.

Schefter also reported the Langston Walker voided-year development recently.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

The Raiders added a pair of street free agents this week, each of whom plays defense.

LB Chris Clemons, a two-year veteran out of Georgia, played for Washington in 2004-05. He was released from the reserve/injury list (aka IR) with an injury settlement in August, 2006 and sat out this past season.

CB Levonne Rowan was undrafted out of college (Wisconsin) but signed with Philadelphia almost immediately after the 2006 draft. The Iggles released him on July 28, 2006, and he was out of the NFL for the year.

Rowan ran a 4.28 - 40 for scouts at Wisconsin's Pro Day, so you can see why he would attract teams' interest.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Looking over a list of prospective free agents, I noticed the name of DE Tony Bryant, a second-round pick of the Raiders back in 1999 and an excellent all around performer before a serious neck injury forced his retirement.

If DE Lance Johnstone doesn't prove able to return successfully from off-season knee surgery, Bryant might be an attractive alternative.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Oakland rookie OLB Thomas Howard was named to the Ourlads' All-Rookie Defensive Team. Michael Huff made it too, but as a generic "DB" rather than a safety. We're unsure exactly what the significance, if any, of that is . . .

Saturday, January 13, 2007

The Contra Costa Times' Steve Corkran wrote today that Raiders T Langston Walker has elected to void the final year of the six-year contract he signed as a rookie in 2002, making him an unrestricted free agent. This was the path WR Jerry Porter followed to riches if not glory . . .

Just another rat deserting the almost sunk ship, is how we'd view it; and just where the thoroughly mediocre Walker thinks he'll find interest in his limited abilities escapes us. He's been a major disappointment with the Raiders after a promising start backing up and filling in for Lincoln Kennedy in Kennedy's final years as a Raider.

Where Are They Now Dept.: QB Kent Smith, who was in the Raiders' training camp last summer and then spent about five weeks on the practice squad in October and November, agreed on contract terms with Tennessee. Punter Glenn Pakulak, allocated by Oakland to NFL Europe last spring and also in the late part of Oakland's 2006 camp, was signed to a future contract by Tennessee and will be sent overseas again this spring.

Position	Cost
Quarterbacks	$12,615,000
Offensive linemen	$9,556,000
Defensive ends	$8,644,000
Wide receivers	$7,613,000
Cornerbacks	$7,790,000
Linebackers	$7,206,000
Running backs	$6,999,000
Defensive tackles	$6,775,000
Safeties	$4,490,000
Tight ends	$4,371,000
Punters and kickers	$2,078,000

Position	Cost
Quarterbacks	$10,182,000
Offensive linemen	$8,267,000
Defensive ends	$7,701,000
Wide receivers	$7,040,000
Cornerbacks	$6,766,000
Linebackers	$6,493,000
Running backs	$5,981,000
Defensive tackles	$5,554,000
Safeties	$3,984,000
Tight ends	$3,612,000
Punters and kickers	$1,926,000