The Oakland Raiders need a flawless offseason if they want to make any noise in the AFC West next year.Their 2011-2012 campaign had a promising start. Running back Darren McFadden looked unstoppable and Jason Campbell was solid as the starting quarterback. But things quickly changed when these two suffered season-ending injuries before the midway point of the season, prompting the pricey Carson Palmer trade.The end result was an 8-8 finish, good for third place in the AFC West.The Raiders will have a hard time bringing in new talent this offseason because they have little money to spend on free agents and only ...
At 1 p.m. PDT on March 13, the NFL's free-agency period starts and the Raiders must be under the salary cap.There are a number of player contracts that have not yet restructured or otherwise addressed which will likely have an impact on the salary cap and the Raiders' free agency plans. Kamerion WimbleyThe two sides aren't talking and extra guarantees are triggered on Friday; Wimbley is likely to be released before they do. Wimbley's release would save the Raiders just $2 million in cap space and leave the Raiders without a strong-side linebacker on the roster. John HendersonHis contract is due to ...
Before you light your torches and sharpen your pitchforks, read the article. A 5-2 defense is one that is no longer used in the NFL on a normal basis. Teams prefer the 4-3 and 3-4 schemes. Both have their flaws and strengths.The 5-2's biggest strength is obviously playing the against the run. With five down linemen, teams think twice about trying to run down the middle where there are three big defensive tackles bunched together. The Raiders had an atrocious season in 2011. They were 27th against the run and allowed 5.1 yards a carry, good for dead last in the ...
Well, if there was any doubt as to whether the Oakland Athletics got their money’s worth by signing free agent Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes this past offseason, he proved right away that the answer is yes. On Saturday, in his spring training debut—his first game against MLB pitching—Cespedes smacked a solo home run in his third at-bat of the spring, propelling the A’s to a 6-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. It wasn’t quite like the Atlanta Braves’ Jason Heyward fulfilling his hype by homering in his first major league at-bat in 2010, or the first major league start by ...
The Oakland Raiders originally faced a mountainous salary cap deficit of more than $20 million this offseason, but after a flurry of moves in the past couple of weeks, the Raiders have not only erased much if not all of that salary cap overage, but they may actually be in the position to make a move or two to improve the team in free agency.In just the past week alone, defensive lineman Richard Seymour, safety Michael Huff, quarterback Carson Palmer and linebacker Aaron Curry all restructured their contracts, in many cases converting base salaries into signing bonuses that can then ...
A Few SpeculationsThere's a lot of swapping going on in the NFL. Folks are speculating on the choice Peyton Manning will make. Some say he will choose the Broncos and the Tebow fans are going to be upset if Manning does select the Denver Broncos. Do you wonder why folks have not said much about Peyton Manning coming to Oakland? The cost is probably the factor that prohibits that type of speculation.One thing that is impressive is that Manning was the top passer for nine consecutive years when he was with the Colts. Also, the Colts made the playoffs for ...
New Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie has made it darn clear that he plans on building his team through the draft.This isn't a new thing for McKenzie, he has been a member of the Green Bay Packers front office for the last 19 years. The Packers are a team that has done it the right way, building through the draft and supplementing in free agency.This is going to be the modus operandi of the Oakland Raiders moving forward. Previous Regime Handcuffed McKenzieIt isn't that acquiring the likes of Carson Palmer and Aaron Curry was a bad idea. In fact, both ...
The doom and gloom from a few weeks ago, when the Oakland Raiders were announced to be approximately $20 million over the salary cap, has been replaced with an excitement from the fan base to see what the team has in store. Carson Palmer, Richard Seymour, Michael Huff, and Aaron Curry have restructured their deals to give the Raiders salary relief this season, while defensive backs Chris Johnson and Hiram Eugene were let go.Still on the agenda is the contract situation of Kamerion Wimbley, restructuring franchise player Tyvon Branch to a long-term deal, and what to do with their own free ...
The Oakland Raiders were a season-ending loss to the San Diego Chargers away from making the playoffs last season. This wasn't enough for Hue Jackson to keep his job.Now they have decided to go in an entirely new direction with Reggie McKenzie as the man running the front office.Unfortunately for him, Oakland doesn't have a selection in the first four rounds of the 2012 NFL draft and are in a vicarious salary cap situation.He is going to have to get creative right off the bat in order for the Raiders to improve from an eight-win 2011 season and become the ...
After the Oakland Raiders already restructured linebacker Aaron Curry's deal, as well as quarterback Carson Palmer's, it would now be in the team's best interest to do the same with linebacker Kamerion Wimbley's.According to Scout.com's Aaron Wilson, the two sides have yet to fully discuss the future between them, which could result in the team ultimately deciding to release the linebacker.Meanwhile, the Raiders haven't spoken to outside linebacker Kamerion Wimbley for several days. All signs point toward his pending release with no movement toward adjusting his contract at this time. So, the Raiders will likely cut Wimbley by Tuesday when ...