The Oakland Raiders have a long and successful history, but one thing that may be surprising is that many of the Raider greats were not signed as free agents.As fans get impatient with the 2012 version of free agency, it's important to remember that the real gems in free agency are rarely high-profile.In fact, only one or two of the players on this list were a "big name" and many were in the twilight of their careers. I've come up with a few arbitrary qualifiers and I hope doing so adds a little bit of objectivity to an otherwise subjective list.The qualifications are:1. ...
The current state of the Indianapolis Colts is unlike anything we’ve seen in recent NFL offseasons: a full-blown fire sale atmosphere. Everything must go! If it ain’t bolted to the ground, it can be had! As an Oakland A’s fan, I am familiar with this concept: The team gets a little long in the tooth, veterans are making too much money and you find yourself in an unsustainable situation—something has got to give. But in the NFL, this is a rare occurrence. You hardly ever see an NFL team so willingly and swiftly blowing up the entire roster and committing ...
Heading into the 2012 season in rebuilding mode, the A's knew they would have some holes to fill before the season started. They went out and acquired guys like Josh Reddick and Bartolo Colon to fill some of those spots, but for the most part the club will be full of young guys looking to break camp as part of the 25-man roster. Young players like Josh Donaldson and Eric Sogard are finally being given a shot at everyday jobs with the big club, and are looking to stick around come April.The team has been in action this spring for ...
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Oakland Raiders are expected to give tight end Kevin Boss his walking papers, effectively releasing him after one lonely season with the team. By doing so, Oakland saves the $2 million roster bonus he would have received had he remained on the team through Thursday. The significance of this move is threefold. One, it obviously clears up a bit of cap space, which Oakland desperately needs to do this offseason. The Raiders have done a serviceable job at whittling down that number, as they currently sit at a mere $640,000 below the cap ...
Once you survey the NFL data, you realize that there are some absolute performance records that have never been broken or even matched. Speculations and surface observations are not suitable for the times we live in. Sportswriters need to recognize the facts and study the global and local data which stands up to the test of time.For example, Tim Brown has been a Hall of Fame finalist for three consecutive years. He spent most of his career with the Oakland Raiders, spanning from 1988 to 2003.In 1997, Brown had 104 receptions. The total yards for those receptions was 1408, and ...
If there was ever a telling symbol for the struggles the Oakland Raiders have endured in recent years, it would be that the team's candidates for the cover of EA Sports' Madden NFL 13 are punter Shane Lechler and kicker Sebastian Janikowski.That's just sad, man. I mean, c'mon, really? The kicker and the punter?That would be like a middle reliever being on the cover of MLB 13: The Show. Then again, when you look at the Raiders closely, who really has the star power to make a case?Yes, Darren McFadden is awesome, but he's so injury-prone his inclusion on on ...
The Oakland Raiders have been busily hacking away at years of bad contracts in an effort to free up salary-cap space in advance of the beginning of free agency at 4 p.m. ET on March 13. The purge continued Tuesday, as the team released linebacker Kamerion Wimbley and tight end Kevin Boss.The 28-year-old Wimbley, who had 63 tackles, seven sacks and an interception a year ago for the Raiders, was due $11 million in base salary this season, and while $6.5 million of that figure is guaranteed, Oakland would have been on the hook for the remainder of Winbley's salary ...
The countdown to the opening of the free-agent market has become so highly anticipated in the last couple weeks, it almost deems that epic music be blared over the sports world airwaves the second the market opens at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday. An actual epic song—not The Final Countdown. That song’s obnoxious. It would have to be a super fast and aggressive tune, probably a speed metal track. It would be a song that symbolizes the insane vibe fueled by media frenzy and the unanswered questions of which players will stay and which are off to new teams. And the Oakland ...
Aaaah, the fresh aromas of spring: the scents of pine tar, eye black and manicured outfield grass. It’s that time of year again: yes, spring training. Pitchers are loosening up their arms, infielders are pickling basepaths and hitters are back in the swing of things. It’s a brand-new start to baseball. Spring is a period that symbolizes the blossoming of new growth—and baseball is no different. No team exudes the essence of springtime more than the Oakland Athletics, an organization that has almost completely re-harvested its roster this past winter. Out with last year’s crop: Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and ...
Have you wondered what teams the Oakland Raiders play often?The data reveals that they compete against the Chargers, Broncos and Chiefs more than other teams.Here is a simple chart and several observations can be made. The data was aggregated from Pro Football Reference Head-to-Head data through 2011.
Total Raiders Opponent
102 57 45 Chargers
101 59 42 Broncos
101 48 53 Chiefs
51 28 23 Seahawks
42 23 19 Titans
36 19 17 Bills
36 21 15 Jets
30 16 14 Dolphins
29 14 15 Patriots
26 18 8 Bengals
19 11 8 Browns
19 10 9 Steelers
Of ...