The Philadelphia Eagles announced that they restructured quarterback Michael Vick’s contract and he’ll remain with the team to compete for the starting job. Although the Eagles aren’t committing to Vick as the starter, he’ll at least be with the team through training camp. It’s pretty safe to assume the Eagles will not be drafting a quarterback in the first round or try to draft a quarterback in the first round—particularly early. This move hurts the Raiders ability to trade down in the draft and takes another veteran quarterback off the market should they release Carson Palmer. The Eagles hold the ...
In an offseason where the Raiders have a lot to consider with their 17 unrestricted free agents and salary cap situation, they won't be able to be big players in free agency. With that said, the Raiders only choice to make themselves better will be through the NFL draft. In the draft, the Raiders will have many needs to address and will need as many picks as they can get in the draft to have any shot at competing for the playoffs next year.The Raiders should get some more compensatory picks, but even those would be no higher than the third round. ...
The Oakland Raiders seemed to take only a passing interest in defense in 2012-13. Operating out of a 4-3 base defense, they allowed 27.7 points per game, ranking 27th out of 32 teams, according to NFL.com.Such an underwhelming performance necessarily results from poor effort, but poor scheming can play a critical role. Thus, the coaching staff should re-evaluate its defensive approach from its basic components, so the players can be in the best position to succeed. In line with what the Raiders should do to address its struggling offense this offseason, it's critical that they closely inspect the talent they have, ...
The Oakland A's had a busy winter stocking up on talent in order to defend their AL West title. They acquired outfielder Chris Young, shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, catcher John Jaso and infielder Jed Lowrie to bolster the squad.The A's did lose shortstops Stephen Drew and Cliff Pennington, outfielder/desginated hitter Jonny Gomes, first baseman Chris Carter, starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy and catcher George Kottaras. Time will tell if the new additions can provide more value this year than the departures did last season.Regardless of how well Young, Nakajima, Jaso and Lowrie perform, the biggest source of improvement from last season is ...
After a busy offseason for the Oakland A's, they will fight to retain their standing on top of the American League West.During said offseason, the A's have moved around a lot of infielders through addition and subtraction.Gone are the days of Cliff Pennington at shortstop or second base, after he was traded to Arizona. Stephen Drew is gone as well after being the A's shortstop down the stretch. Another trade split apart the solid first base platoon of Brandon Moss and Chris Carter with Carter being sent to Houston.Brandon Inge also will not be back in Oakland this year.With all the departing infielders, who will take ...
The off-season is kind of a weird time for me. It's the worst part of the NFL year because, well, there is absolutely no football going on right now. But at the same time, I also love it because of all the events that can go on. Free agency, the NFL Draft, trades. I love how much one team can completely change from one season to the next. Last year, the Raiders went through huge changes. The team hired their first general manager not named Al Davis. The team brought in new coaches, players and everything else.Now, the Raiders are ...
In designing an effective offense—something the Oakland Raiders failed to do in 2012-13—a fundamental principle is building around the strengths of your roster. Consider two examples from recent NFL seasons: Since drafting Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski in 2010, the New England Patriots have reaped great success exploiting linebackers with its two-tight end passing attack. In each season since, quarterback Tom Brady has averaged more than 4,600 passing yards and a 36-to-7 TD-to-INT ratio. Meanwhile, the Patriots have averaged 13 wins and made two AFC Championship Game appearances, including a Super Bowl berth. During the same span, the Green Bay ...
The Oakland Raiders' aura is unlike that of any other team in the NFL.When you wear the silver and black, you're expected to take on an image that everyone fears.Up until the last decade, that was how the Raiders operated as a team, thanks to Al Davis, who appreciated individuality as much as he did winning.Oakland is longing to get back to the glory days that made the team so popular in the 1970s and 1980s, and here are four players who fit that unique mold.Begin Slideshow
The Oakland Raiders have a decision to make on Carson Palmer’s future with the team: release him or pay him $15.3 million in 2013. The business world might do a cost-benefit analysis to determine if they should keep Palmer, and since the NFL is a business, it would make sense that the Raiders would do the same. In this case the cost is known, but the benefit is a little bit more complicated. The benefit of Palmer is basically equal to his future production and can be evaluated in many different ways. There is subjective analysis that can be done (scouting) or ...
The Oakland Athletics aren't known as a defensively gifted team, but motivation and experience will lead to better play in the field—something they must have to repeat as AL West champions. Looking at stats, it's head-scratching how this team won the division. It had to be heart and pitching. The team batting average was third-worst in the league, and they set an American League record for most strikeouts in a season. Oakland committed the eighth-most errors and, fittingly, had the eighth-worst fielding percentage as well. Yet oddly enough, the team ranked No. 5 in defensive efficiency ratio, according to MLB.com. ...