Quite a bit has changed since my first mock of the Oakland Raiders' 2013 NFL Draft. The Senior Bowl and NFL Combine have passed and there were winners and losers from both. As such, the projections change as well.In addition, the Raiders have quietly begun addressing their defensive losses with early free agent signings. While they have made solid selection with Kaluka Maiava, Pat Sims, and Jason Hunter, there is still a ton of work to do. This team still lacks a game-breaker defensively and that should be GM Reggie McKenzie's No. 1 priority heading into this draft. Much of that will ...
Coming into spring training, the A's had five potential starters battling for playing time at second base in 2013. Surely the A's could find a starter in a pool of players consisting of Jemile Weeks, Scott Sizemore, Jed Lowrie, Adam Rosales and even Andy Parrino.Yet the A's find themselves just more than two weeks from opening day and nobody has emerged from the crowd. Weeks was off to a hot start only to get a shoulder injury to derail his momentum. Sizemore has been in a horrible slump with three hits in 24 at-bats this spring. Rosales is hitting .294 ...
The Oakland Raiders have been teasing a possible switch in their base defense for a couple of years now.Back in 2010, Al Davis traded for Kamerion Wimbley and Quentin Groves, both outside linebackers in a 3-4 defense, yet the Raiders kept a 4-3 base defense. Then in 2012, Reggie McKenzie hired Dennis Allen as head coach. Allen has a history with the 3-4 base and so does his defensive coordinator, Jason Tarver.Now, it appears that the stars have aligned in Oakland for the switch to the 3-4 if free agency is any indicator of the team's plans.The Raiders are reportedly ...
In 2012, Raiders' GM Reggie McKenzie took his first crack at leading a team in free agency. With that rookie year as the GM came rookie mistakes. Philip Wheeler left the Indianapolis Colts for the Oakland Raiders in 2012 for a one-year contract worth under $1 million. A year later, Wheeler was back in free agency and got a lucrative contract with the Miami Dolphins and left the Raiders.In Wheeler's lone year as a Raider he had 109 tackles and took over as the leader of the defense. He took the "green dot helmet" to communicate with the sideline from Rolando McClain. Wheeler was ...
A decade has passed since the Oakland Raiders last made the playoffs—or even had a winning season. With so many questions surrounding the quarterback position entering 2013, an immediate reversal of that trend doesn't seem likely.Incumbent starter Carson Palmer is due $13 million. CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora reported back in February that there was "no way" the Raiders would pay him that kind of money to stay.Adam Schefter of ESPN then reported that the Raiders were attempting to restructure Palmer's contract as of late February. Keeping Palmer for at least another year wouldn't be the worst move, considering the ...
The first step in overcoming a problem is admitting you have one.Well, as an Oakland Raiders fan, I'm finally ready to admit this team is knee-deep in rebuilding mode.Just a couple of years removed from an 8-8 season that left the team just one win out of the playoffs, the Oakland Raiders have begun the 2013 free agency period with the sort of flop you expect from teams that don't believe in, "Just win baby."Then again, it's not like there's anyone here to point fingers at other than the man famous for saying the phrase in the first place.After years ...
The Oakland Raiders are reportedly interested in free-agent quarterback Vince Young this offseason, according to various sources around the league.Pro Football Talk reports that the Raiders have contacted the two-time Pro Bowler about a potential workout and that discussions are at a preliminary stage.Key word there being "preliminary."This isn't a deal that's on the verge of taking place this free agency, and it certainly isn't a deal that the Raiders are desperate to complete this season.The reported interest that Oakland has in Young is simply that, interest, and it shouldn't mean anything more than that. Young doesn't appear likely to be ...
It was a rough opening day of free agency for the Oakland Raiders as they not only released two former first-round picks, but they also watched their two highest priorities sign lucrative contracts elsewhere.One of those priorities was Philip Wheeler, who is now Miami-bound with a five year deal worth $26 million. The other one of those priorities was Desmond Bryant, who went to the Cleveland Browns for a similar contract.Bryant was expected for the last few years to be the future of the Raiders defensive line, as he sat on the bench behind the once-formidable tandem of Tommy Kelly and ...
The Oakland Raiders haven’t had much cap space for several years, but the problem was compounded when the team traded for Carson Palmer in 2011. Not only did Palmer cost the Raiders a lot of money against the salary cap, but the Raiders traded away picks that would have turned into bargain free agents. Reggie McKenzie really had no choice but to purge the roster of some deadweight in 2012 and that continued in 2013 with the release of Michael Huff and Darrius Heyward-Bey. The Raiders added $14.8 million in dead money with the releases and saved just over $6 ...
On the first day of free agency in 2013, the Raiders got busy creating more salary cap room by ridding the organization of two highly paid players.A pair of former seventh overall draft picks were let go in Michael Huff (2006) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (2009). The Raiders also released a free-agent acquisition from last year in Dave Tollefson. It hasn't been all subtraction for the Raiders, though, as they did hold on to their lone restricted free agent in Phillip Adams. With these transactions to begin the 2013 league year in Oakland, here is a further look at each individual ...