Thursday, February 19, 2009

Briefly Catching Up on the Offseason

Haven't had a lot of time to post lately, but it's not for lack of interest. Was discussing the Nnamdi signing with Unk today, and we got to thinking that if you selectively go back in time to late December when the Raiders had two games remaining, it's been a pretty good run. Won the two games, JaMarcus played very well, kept the coach who put it together, assembled a reasonable (experienced) staff, signed Chris Johnson, signed Shane Lechler, signed Nnamdi.

Not bad.

I'm rooting for Cable. Sure, it's in my own self interest given that Sundays will be miserable for me if he fails, but I found his enthusiasm for the Raiders at his press conference endearing. He's a lifetime Raider fan, which counts for something. And the fact that all our big free agents are returning (recognizing that money is involved here) means that guys want to play for him.

Obviously I'm thrilled with the signings. I'm not sure it's even worth discussing. Sure, a remarkable amount of money and cap space was spent, but for two guys considered the best at their positions (per All Pro selections), pay them. Mr. Mackey is discussing Nnamdi's signing on ESPN's NFL Live right now, and just watching the Nnamdi highlights has me fired up for next season.

Came across this interesting Schefter blog entry. I was wondering how long it would take for Porter to come back after stealing a bunch of Jacksonville's money. If he returns and the Raiders draft a WR early, we could end up with a record number of #2 / #3 WRs: Walker, Carter, Higgins, Schilens, Porter, and a developing rookie.

Fittingly, John Clayton is now discussing the inevitable release of Marvin Harrison.

1 comment:

Sllaacs said...

Bad financial moves by the Raiders no doubt, but you just have love the loyalty that Davis continues to show his best players. Lechler and Asomugha may be Hall members when it is all said and done but with no rings.